SCOTUS Decision

On June 27, 2025, in a 6-3 decision, SCOTUS overturned the lower court’s decision, upholding the preventive service mandate.

Facts

• The Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires non-grandfathered group health plans to cover a range of preventive health services with zero cost-sharing.
• On June 27, 2025, in a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) overturned a prior decision from the Fifth Circuit, upholding the preventive service mandate.
• The SCOTUS decision means there is no impact or change on the ACA preventive services mandate.

History of this case

On March 30, 2023, in the case Braidwood Management Inc. v. Becerra (“Braidwood decision”), the District Court for the Northern District of Texas (“the Court”) issued a final judgement holding that the way certain preventive care requirements are determined violates the Appointments Clause of Article II of the United States Constitution and is therefore unlawful.

The decision was appealed, and on May 15, 2023, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals issued an administrative stay on the enforcement of the district court’s decision granted in the Braidwood case. As the remedy in this case, the district court struck down part of the ACA’s requirement to provide coverage for certain preventive care services at no cost-sharing (including coverage for certain human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention medications), as providing such coverage was a violation of the plaintiffs’ religious beliefs. The Justice Department consequently appealed the decision, and on June 21, 2024, the Fifth Circuit affirmed the lower court decision.

April 21, 2025, SCOTUS heard oral arguments in the case. Note that the case was renamed Kennedy v. Braidwood Management to reflect the name of the current Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Resources

• Final Judgement 
• Kennedy v. Braidwood Management

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