Richard H. Hughes, IV, Member of the Firm in the Health Care & Life Sciences practice, in the firm’s Washington, DC, office, was quoted in the Bloomberg Law Daily Labor Report, in “ACA Suit Threatens Overhaul of Preventive Care in Employer Plans,” by Lauren Clason.

Following is an excerpt:

A US Supreme Court case challenging preventive care mandates would upend the health insurance landscape if the justices strike them down, raising the potential for many employers to reinstate cost-sharing for some services at employees’ expense.

The high court agreed Jan. 10 to consider the constitutionality of an advisory panel on preventive care, whose recommendations require plans to provide first-dollar coverage for related services under the Affordable Care Act.

Becerra v. Braidwood Management jeopardizes uniform access to everything from heart disease medication to cancer screenings, and health care and employment lawyers say the lawsuit opens the door to future legal fights around the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and the US Constitution’s Article II appointments clause. …

Coverage could vary widely if the court sides with Texas-based employer Braidwood Management, Inc., said Richard H. Hughes IV, a member of Epstein Becker & Green PC and a former executive with vaccine manufacturer Moderna, Inc. Even if employers do choose to continue covering a particular service, they could narrow the scope by age or risk factors, or impose more prior authorization requirements on doctors to limit their own costs.

“You’re opening the door to inconsistency,” Hughes said. “That’s what the ACA created, was consistency.”

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