Judge rules against required coverage of HIV prevention drug
A federal judge in Texas has ruled that required coverage of an HIV prevention drug under the Affordable Care Act violates a Texas employer’s religious beliefs and undercut the broader system that determines which preventive drugs are covered in the U.S. The ruling was handed down Wednesday by Fort Worth-based U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor, who ruled in 2018 that the entire ACA is invalid
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A federal judge ruled Wednesday that required coverage of an HIV prevention drug under the Affordable Care Act violates a Texas employer's religious beliefs and undercut the broader system that determines which preventive drugs are covered in the U.S.
The ruling was handed down by U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor, whose courtroom in Fort Worth is a favored venue for conservative opponents of the federal health care law that's also known as “Obamacare.” He ruled in 2018 that the entire law is invalid but was later overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court.
O'Connor's latest ruling targets a requirement that employer-provided insurance cover the HIV prevention treatment known as PrEP, which is a pill taken daily to prevent infection.
The challenge was brought by a company owned by Steven Hotze, a conservative activist in Texas who helped defeat proposed nondiscrimination protections for gay and transgender people in Houston and pushed Republicans for a law mandating that public school students use only the bathroom of the sex listed on their birth certificate. He is described in the lawsuit as operating Braidwood Management "according to Christian principles and teaching.”
