Preventive Mandates Remain Intact During Fifth Circuit Review
Jun 15, 2023
On March 30, 2023, the Braidwood decision was issued by a US District Court in TX which effectively meant that certain preventive care requirements could not be enforced. However, we had mentioned in our April alert, shortly after the Braidwood decision was issued, that it was very likely to be challenged in court (it was promptly ) and thus too early for employers to act on.
To recap what happened with the March verdict, the US District Court made two decisions:
On Monday, June 12, 2023, the Biden administration, as defendant in the case, finalized a with the plaintiffs to leave the two challenged preventive care mandates intact nationwide while the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals does its due diligence reviewing the case, with the understanding the plaintiffs will not be penalized for non-compliance if the mandates are ultimately upheld as lawful.
The next day on Tuesday, June 13, 2023, the Fifth Circuit that decision.
As a result, non-grandfathered plans still must keep providing coverage for USPSTF 鈥淎鈥 and 鈥淏鈥 preventive care recommendations, including those issued/updated after March 23, 2010, and there is currently no express RFRA protection for non-grandfathered plans to exclude coverage of HIV PrEP.
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