Fort Worth judge sides with GOP plaintiffs in lawsuit challenging key provision of Obamacare [Fort Worth Star-Telegram]

Fort Worth Star-Telegram (TX)

A federal judge in Fort Worth has ruled that a mandate requiring health insurers to pay the full cost of preventive health care is illegal. The ruling could threaten access to health care like PrEP, an antiviral pill that can reduce the risk of becoming infected with HIV.

Judge Reed O’Connor issued a ruling Thursday that struck down a key component of the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare. The landmark 2010 health care law required health insurers to cover the full cost of services that are considered preventive health care, including everything from annual flu shots, screenings for high blood pressure, and birth control.

The case was brought by multiple Tarrant County residents, including Fort Worth orthodontist John Kelley, as well as Dr. Steven Hotze and his company Braidwood Management Inc. The plaintiffs were opposed to the law’s preventive care mandate because it required insurance companies to cover the cost of care including birth control, testing for sexually transmitted infections, and antivirals like PrEP. The plaintiffs said they didn’t want to offer health insurance as employers, or buy it as individuals, because they were morally and religiously opposed. Kelley, a member of the Christ Chapel Bible Church in Fort Worth, is “a Christian, and he is therefore unwilling to purchase health insurance that subsidizes abortifacient contraception or PrEP drugs that encourage homosexual behavior and intravenous drug use,” according to the lawsuit, which was filed in 2020 in U.S. District Court in Fort Worth.

Hotze is best known as a QAnon conspiracy theorist and was recently asked to leave a hearing at the Texas Capitol after he repeatedly referred to trans people as pedophiles.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.