The #5thCircuit's ruling also rejected the govt's request to remove certain offending words from the #ACA provision at issue - a process called severing - in order to make that part of the #law conform to the #Constitution. That issue is also part of the appeal before #SCOTUS.

The #SupremeCourt's decision is expected by the end of June.

Before the case was narrowed to the #AppointmentsClause issue, the lawsuit included a #religious objection to being required to cover pre-exposure #prophylaxis for #HIV. They claimed that such drugs "facilitate & encourage homosexual behavior, prostitution, sexual promiscuity & intravenous drug use."

"The secretary can remove them at will, & the threat of removal is the ultimate tool for control over final decisions on recommendations," #Trump #DOJ lawyers wrote.

For this & other reasons, DOJ lawyers argued, the #USPSTF's members should be seen as so-called "inferior officers," meaning they can be lawfully appointed by an executive branch dept head - like #HHS secy #RFKJr - & do not require #Senate confirmation under the #Constitution.

The #conservative #5thCircuit Court of Appeals ruled in 2024 that the task force's structure violates the #Constitution, as plaintiffs claimed.

The govt's appeal of the 5th Circuit's decision initially was filed by Democratic President #Biden's admin before being taken up by Republican Pres #Trump's admin.

Trump's admin argued in a #SCOTUS brief that the #USPSTF's #PreventiveCare recs cannot become legally binding on insurers w/o the #HHS secy's [#RFKJr] permission.

Several #Texas #Christians & 2 small businesses sued in federal court in Texas in 2020 to challenge the #USPSTF,'s structure. It is the latest in a years-long series of challenges to the 2010 #law, Pres #Obama's signature #legislative achievement, to reach #SCOTUS.

If the justices uphold the lower court's ruling, #health associations said in a filing, life-saving tests & treatments that have been cost-free would become subject to co-pays & deductibles.

The #Trump admin has appealed a lower court's determination that the US Preventive Services Task Force #USPSTF, which under the #ACA has a major hand in choosing what services will be covered, is composed of members who were not validly appointed. Its 16 members are appointed by the secy of #HHS [currently #RFKJr] w/o #Senate confirmation.

#SCOTUS is set on Monday to consider the legality of a provision of the #AffordableCareAct #law [aka #Obamacare], that helps ensure that #health #insurers cover #PreventiveMedicalCare such as #cancer screenings at no cost to #patients.

#Trump #USPSTF #ACA #HHS #RFKJr #Senate
#law #medicine #HealthCare

"The [Division of #Viral #Hepatitis] Laboratory Branch had the highest degree of viral hepatitis expertise of any #PublicHealth laboratory in the world," wrote Scott Becker, the assn's CEO. "Their loss eliminated critical national testing services that do not exist anywhere else within the #HHS agencies."

As of April 16, the assn had not received a response from #RFKJr, Becker said.

2 days after the lab's scientists received their reduction in force emails, #HHS Secy #RFKJr acknowledged that ~⅕ of the cuts at HHS were made *unintentionally* & some people would be offered their jobs back.
On April 4, the Assn of #PublicHealth Laboratories sent a letter to RFKJr urging HHS to reinstate all personnel in the Division of #Viral #Hepatitis & at the Division of #STD Prevention, another lab at the #CDC that was shuttered.

But on April 1, the #outbreak investigation was brought to a halt. All 27 of the lab's scientists received an email from the #HHS informing them that they were losing their #jobs. Like thousands of other employees who received similar emails that day, the scientists were told they would be placed on administrative leave until June 2, after which they would no longer work for the #CDC.