Supreme Court preserves key part of Obamacare coverage requirements
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court preserved a key part of the Affordable Care Act's preventive health care coverage requirements on Friday, rejecting a challenge from Christian employers to the provision that affects some 150 million Americans.
The 6-3 ruling comes in a lawsuit over how the government decides which health care medications and services must be fully covered by private insurance under former President Barack Obama's signature law, often referred to as Obamacare.
The plaintiffs said the process is unconstitutional because a volunteer board of medical experts tasked with recommending which services are covered is not Senate approved.
President Donald Trump's administration defended the mandate before the court, though the Republican president has been a critic of his Democratic predecessor's law. The Justice Department said board members don't need Senate approval because they can be removed by the health and human services secretary.
Medications and services that could have been affected include statins to lower cholesterol, lung cancer screenings, HIV-prevention drugs and medication to lower the chance of breast cancer for women.
The case came before the Supreme Court after an appeals court struck down some preventive care coverage requirements. The U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the Christian employers and Texas residents who argued they can't be forced to provide full insurance coverage for things like medication to prevent HIV and some cancer screenings.
Wednesdays
Columnist Jen Zoratti looks at what's next in arts, life and pop culture.
Well-known conservative attorney Jonathan Mitchell, who represented Trump before the high court in a dispute about whether he could appear on the 2024 ballot, argued the case.
The appeals court found that coverage requirements were unconstitutional because they came from a body — the United States Preventive Services Task Force — whose members were not nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate.
A 2023 analysis prepared by the nonprofit KFF found that ruling would still allow full-coverage requirements for some services, including mammography and cervical cancer screening.
___
Follow the AP's coverage of the U.S. Supreme Court at https://apnews.com/hub/us-supreme-court.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Winnipeg Free Press
34 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Netanyahu denounces report that Israeli soldiers have orders to shoot at Palestinians seeking aid
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz emphatically rejected a report in the left-leaning Israeli daily Haaretz on Friday, which claimed Israeli soldiers were ordered to shoot at Palestinians approaching aid sites inside Gaza. They called the report's findings 'malicious falsehoods designed to defame' the military. More than 500 Palestinians have been killed and hundreds more wounded while seeking food since the newly formed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation began distributing aid in the territory about a month ago, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. Palestinian witnesses say Israeli troops have opened fire at crowds on the roads heading toward the sites. Reacting to the Haaretz piece, Israel's military confirmed that it was investigating incidents in which civilians had been harmed while approaching the sites. It rejected the article's allegations 'of deliberate fire toward civilians.' The foundation, which is backed by an American private contractor, has been distributing food boxes at four locations, mainly in the far south of Gaza, for the past month. 'GHF is not aware of any of these incidents but these allegations are too grave to ignore and we therefore call on Israel to investigate them and transparently publish the results in a timely manner,' the group said in a social media post. Palestinians trying to find food have frequently encountered chaos and violence on their way to and on arrival at the aid sites. Tens of thousands are desperate for food after Israel imposed a 2 1/2 month siege on Gaza, blocking all food, water and medicine from entering the territory pending the setup of the GHF sites. The bodies of eight people who died Friday had come to Shifa Hospital from a GHF site in Netzarim, although it was not immediately clear how they died, Dr. Mohamed Abu Selmyiha, the hospital's director, told The Associated Press. A GHF spokesperson challenged the report, saying they did not know of any incidents at or near their sites Friday. Twenty other bodies his hospital received Friday came from airstrikes across north Gaza, he said. Thousands of Palestinians walk for hours to reach the hubs, moving through Israeli military zones where witnesses say Israeli troops regularly open fire with heavy barrages to control the crowds. The Israeli military says it has only fired warning shots. Mohammad Fawzi, a displaced man from Rafah, told the AP that he was only able to get empty boxes, not food, from the aid site in the Shakoush area in Rafah when he trekked there early Thursday morning. 'We've been shot at since 6 a.m. up until 10 a.m. just to get aid and only some people were able to receive it. There are martyrs and injured people. The situation is difficult,' he said. The group Doctors Without Borders on Friday condemned the distribution system as 'a slaughter masquerading as humanitarian aid' and called for it to be immediately shut down. More than 6,000 people have been killed and more than 20,000 injured in Gaza since the ceasefire collapsed on March 18. Since the war began, more than 56,000 people have been killed and 132,000 injured, according to the health ministry. The Gaza Health Ministry doesn't distinguish between civilians and combatants, but has said that women and children make up more than half the 56,000 dead. Israel says it only targets militants and blames civilian deaths on Hamas, accusing the militants of hiding among civilians, because they operate in populated areas. The Israel-Hamas war started following the Hamas-led attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, when some 1,200 people were killed and around 250 taken hostage. About 50 of them still remain in captivity in Gaza. The latest deaths include six people killed and 10 wounded in Israeli strikes on a group of citizens near the Martyrs Roundabout in the Bureij Camp in central Gaza Strip, officials at Awda Hospital in Nuseirat said Friday. The United Nations chief meanwhile urged leaders to show 'political courage' and agree to a ceasefire like the one forged between Israel and Iran. Sundays Kevin Rollason's Sunday newsletter honouring and remembering lives well-lived in Manitoba. Secretary-General António Guterres also urged a return to the U.N.'s long-tested distribution system for aid in Gaza, where he said Israeli military operations have created 'a humanitarian crisis of horrific proportions..' 'The search for food must never be a death sentence,' Guterres stressed to U.N. reporters Friday. ___ Shurafa reported from Gaza and Khaled from Cairo. Associated Press writer Edith M. Lederer contributed from the United Nations. ___ Follow AP's war coverage at
CBC
an hour ago
- CBC
Congo, Rwanda sign peace deal to end fighting — and help U.S. access critical minerals
Social Sharing Congo and Rwanda on Friday signed a peace deal facilitated by the U.S. to help end the decades-long deadly fighting in eastern Congo while helping the U.S. government and American companies gain access to critical minerals in the region. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called it "an important moment after 30 years of war." Earlier, U.S. President Donald Trump said at a news conference that he was able to broker a deal for "one of the worst wars anyone's ever seen." "I was able to get them together and sell it," Trump said. "And not only that, we're getting for the United States a lot of the mineral rights from the Congo." The agreement has been touted as an important step toward peace in the Central African nation of Congo, where conflict with more than 100 armed groups, the most potent backed by Rwanda, has killed millions since the 1990s. It's also at the heart of Trump's push to gain access to critical minerals needed for much of the world's technology at a time when the U.S. and China are actively competing for influence in Africa. Analysts see the deal as a major turning point but don't believe it will quickly end the fighting. The agreement involves provisions on territorial integrity and a prohibition on hostilities, as well as the disengagement, disarmament and conditional integration of non-state armed groups. Peace deal not likely to quickly end the conflict The Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group is the most prominent armed group in the conflict, and its major advance early this year left bodies on the streets. With seven million people displaced in Congo, the United Nations has called it "one of the most protracted, complex, serious humanitarian crises on Earth." Congo hopes the U.S. will provide it with the security support needed to fight the rebels and possibly get them to withdraw from the key cities of Goma and Bukavu, as well as from the entire region, where Rwanda is estimated to have up to 4,000 troops. Rwanda has said that it's defending its territorial interests and not supporting M23. M23 rebels have suggested that the agreement won't be binding on them. The rebel group hasn't been directly involved in the planned peace deal, although it has been part of other ongoing peace talks. Corneille Nangaa, leader of the Congo River Alliance — known by its French acronym AFC — which includes M23, told The Associated Press in March that direct peace talks with Congo can only be held if the country acknowledges their grievances and that "anything regarding us which are done without us, it's against us." An M23 spokesperson, Oscar Balinda, also echoed those thoughts in an interview with the AP this week, saying the U.S.-facilitated deal doesn't concern the rebels. Rwanda has also been accused of exploiting eastern Congo's minerals, a trend analysts say might make it difficult for Rwanda not to be involved in any way in the region. Critical minerals are used in smartphones, advanced fighter jets and much more. A team of UN experts alleged in a December report that "fraudulent extraction, trade and export to Rwanda of [Congo] minerals benefited both AFC/M23 and the Rwandan economy." Rwanda has denied any involvement in Congo's minerals. The deal is also at the heart of the U.S. government's push to counter China in Africa. Chinese companies have been for many years one of the key players in Congo's minerals sector. Chinese cobalt refineries, which account for a majority of the global supply, rely heavily on Congo. WATCH | Is Trump coming after Canada's critical minerals?: Is Trump really coming after Canada for its critical minerals? 1 month ago Duration 25:43 Why is Donald Trump set on coming after Canada's critical minerals? Then, despite cooling inflation, a falling interest rate and steady employment numbers, more Canadians are missing payments on their loans and mortgages. Andrew Chang explains why. 'Trigger-happy proposition' Analysts say the U.S. commitment might depend on how much access it has to the minerals being discussed under separate negotiations between the American and Congolese governments. The mostly untapped minerals are estimated to be worth as much as $24 trillion US by the U.S. Department of Commerce. Christian Moleka, a political scientist at the Congolese think-tank Dypol, called the deal a "major turning point" in the decades-long conflict but said the signing could "in no way eliminate all the issues of the conflict." "The current draft agreement ignores war crimes and justice for victims by imposing a partnership between the victim and the aggressor," he said. "This seems like a trigger-happy proposition and cannot establish lasting peace without justice and reparation." In Congo's North Kivu province, the hardest hit by the fighting, some believe that the peace deal will help resolve the violence but warn that justice must still be served for an enduring peace to take hold. "I don't think the Americans should be trusted 100 per cent," said Hope Muhinuka, an activist from the province. "It is up to us to capitalize on all we have now as an opportunity." The conflict can be traced to the aftermath of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, where Hutu militias killed between 500,000 and one million ethnic Tutsi, as well as moderate Hutus and Twa, Indigenous people. When Tutsi-led forces fought back, nearly two million Hutus crossed into Congo, fearing reprisals. Rwandan authorities have accused the Hutus who fled of participating in the genocide and alleged that elements of the Congolese army protected them. They have argued that the militias formed by a small fraction of the Hutus are a threat to Rwanda's Tutsi population. WATCH | People in Congo are running out of food and water: People in Goma, Congo, running out of food, water, WFP says 5 months ago Duration 0:28 The World Food Program is warning of shortages of food, clean water and medical supplies in Goma, in eastern Congo, where waves of fighting have displaced thousands of people and disrupted supply chains.
Globe and Mail
an hour ago
- Globe and Mail
Trump ending trade talks with Canada over its digital services tax
U.S. President Donald Trump says he is ending trade discussions with Canada and will soon impose a blanket tariff on all of the country's products in retaliation for Ottawa's digital services tax. In a Truth Social post Friday afternoon, Mr. Trump abruptly broke off talks, which Prime Minister Mark Carney has said were aimed at reaching a deal by late July. 'Based on this egregious Tax, we are hereby terminating ALL discussions on Trade with Canada, effective immediately,' Mr. Trump wrote. 'We will let Canada know the Tariff that they will be paying to do business with the United States of America within the next seven day period.' Canada is set to start levying the digital services tax next week. Mr. Trump said Canada is already 'a very difficult Country to TRADE with' because of its protected dairy industry. He described the digital services tax as 'a direct and blatant attack on our country.'
