The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a “mixed bag” ruling that affirmed, reversed and remanded a lower court’s decision.
The court determined that the Department of Health and Human Services could not enforce the ACA’s preventive care mandate onto the plaintiffs in the case — a group of Texas businesses and individuals that include Braidwood Management and Kelley Orthodontics.
Judge Reed O’Connor, a George W. Bush appointee for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, struck down the provision in 2022, finding that it violated the religious freedom of Christian-owned companies.
The plaintiffs had argued being required to cover HIV preventive medications went against their religion.
The appeals court on Friday, however, also reversed O’Connor’s ruling that barred HHS from enforcing this mandate nationwide, finding that his decision had been an “an abuse of discretion” and that he failed to explain why blocking the ObamaCare rule for everyone was necessary.
“It follows, in our view, that there was also no basis for the universal injunction,” the court wrote in its ruling.
One of the key questions left to be answered was whether the U.S. Preventive Task Force (USPTF) that decides which services must be covered under the ACA is constitutionally sound as O’Connor had ruled the task force’s system was unconstitutional.
The higher court found that HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra had not “cured” the constitutional problems lingering over the Task Force but declined to issue a ruling on this particular question.
“We are disinclined to decide questions without sufficient briefing, particularly ones of high stakes and of constitutional import. We also generally prefer to adhere to our policy of being ‘a court of review, not first view,’” they wrote.
