Federal judge says insurers no longer have to provide some preventive care services, including cancer and heart screenings, at no cost

(CNN) A federal judge in Texas said Thursday that some orders in the Affordable Care Act cannot be enforced nationwide. This includes requiring insurers to cover a wide range of preventive health services at no cost to patients, such as cancer, heart and sexually transmitted disease screening, and smoking. smoking cessation program.

In a new ruling, U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor invalidated recommendations issued by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force tasked with determining some of the preventive care treatments that Obamacare should cover. I made it

O’Connor’s ruling came after a judge had already said the task force’s recommendations violated the constitution’s appointment clause. We also deemed the ACA’s requirement to provide free plans to do business to be unlawful.

Other preventive care obligations under the ACA remain in effect.

The case is likely to be appealed, and the Justice Department has the option to seek a stay of O’Connor’s sentencing while the appeal is pending.

The Justice Department did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment.

The decision represents the latest legal assault on the landmark 2010 Health Care Act in a lawsuit filed by Texas employers and individuals. It’s unclear how O’Connor’s new ruling will actually affect people with Job-Based Affordable Care Act insurance. Because insurers will likely continue to provide free coverage for the rest of the policy, even though the Obamacare requirements in question have not been met. blocked.

While the lawsuit does not pose an existential threat to the Affordable Care Act that previous legal challenges have raised, legal experts say O’Connor’s ruling nevertheless appears to some It jeopardizes the chances that Americans will have access to a large number of preventive treatments.

Andrew Tunamatziko, Deputy Director of the O’Neill Institute of National and International Health Law at Georgetown University, said: “Cost-sensitive people, mainly poor and marginalized communities, will lose cost-sensitive people.”

This story is broken and will be updated.