A federal judge in Texas (of course) on Thursday blocked the Affordable Care Act aka Obamacare’s mandate that health insurance plans cover preventive care against HIV (PrEP), at no cost to patients.
U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor a Republican appointed by George Bush in Fort Worth, Texas, previously found that the PrEP mandate violated a federal religious freedom law and that other no-cost preventive care mandates were based on recommendations by an illegally appointed task force. Now the judge has now blocked the federal government from enforcing the mandates.
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.
The conservative America First Legal Foundation is helping to represent the plaintiffs. The group was founded by neo-Nazi Stephen Miller, who served as an adviser to Republican President Donald Trump.
American Medical Association President Jack Resneck called it “deeply flawed” and said that patients “will be subjected to needless illness and preventable deaths” as a result.
A month’s supply of Truvada is nearly $2,000 without insurance .