The American Medical Association says eliminating no-cost preventive care is "unwise and unthinkable."
The statement comes after a federal judge in Texas dealt a significant blow to the provision of the ACA that requires payers to cover preventive care at no cost to patients. AMA President Jack Resneck Jr., MD, laid out the association's position in a blog post published Sept. 8.
U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor sided with Braidwood Management, a Texas company that brought the suit, which said providing coverage for HIV prevention drugs, commonly known as PrEP, to its employees violated its religious beliefs.
"The AMA is alarmed by this line of judicial reasoning and we fear it could turn back the clock and limit access — not only to PrEP, but also to a long list of preventive services that physicians and patients depend on," Dr. Resneck said.
More than 150 million people benefited from preventive care coverage in 2020, according to HHS.
The legal process for the preventive care provsion could take years to complete, with appeals of the Texas ruling expected in higher courts.