Quite unexpectedly this is the second post in an unplanned series about preventative insurance care coverage. After I posted on Monday about being charged for my annual check up, I ran across this article stating that annual check ups and other preventative care claims will no longer be covered under the Affordable Care Act.
Link: Court Strikes Down Coverage of Preventative Care
It seems that a Texas judge who has previously ruled against other aspects of ObamaCare has now ruled that the “Preventive Services Task Force” that decides which procedures / visits are preventative were appointed illegally. (Don’t ask me why).
It sounds like this will all get appealed and adjudicated at the next level of the Federal courts, but I’m guessing that will take several more years. The scales of justice move slowly, after all. In the meantime, the Department of Health & Human Services estimates that 150 million Americans (about 45% of us) will miss these “free” preventative care visits.
Except the ones who were billed anyway on “upcharges” like me!
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MrFireStation 
I checked my summary plan description and it still reads, “Preventative care – Routine physical exam, mammograms etc.: No charge”. I am going for a physical in two weeks, so I will get firsthand experience if this is still in place or not.
Researching this further I found a Reuters Article, “A federal judge in Texas on Thursday blocked Obamacare’s mandate that health insurance plans cover preventive care, including screenings for certain cancers and pre-exposure prophylaxis against HIV (PrEP), at no cost to patients.”
“The ruling does not apply to preventive services, such as breast cancer screening, that were recommended before Obamacare, formally called the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was enacted in 2010.”
Here is the operative paragraph that explains what is really going on.
“The legal challenge was brought by eight individuals and two businesses, all from Texas. They argued that the free PrEP requirement requires business owners and consumers to pay for services that “encourage homosexual behavior, prostitution, sexual promiscuity and intravenous drug use” despite their religious beliefs.”
Of course there are leftist politicians and MSM who are using the usual scare tactics that you will have to start paying for your annual preventative exam and services. Do not expect them to shed light on you will no longer be expected to pay for ‘preventative drugs’ that help people live a libertine lifestyle. I looked at the quotations that I am getting for putting my youngest son on his own individual policy when I go onto Medicare and saw the rate dropped $10 monthly from what it was before this ruling.
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The article I posted looks like it pulled from the Reuters feed. It looks like there are two challenges in TX in front of the same judge: challenges to the “task force”; and challenges on religious grounds. Call me in 5 years and we’ll see what the courts decide, right?
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