U.S. Supreme Court upholds the Affordable Care Act’s Preventative Care Mandate

On June 27, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) released its 6 – 3 vote decision in Kennedy, Secretary of Health and Human Services, et al v. Braidwood Management, Inc., et al in support of maintaining the Affordable Care Act’s Preventative Care Mandate. At issue was whether the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force (USPSTF) has the authority to issue recommendations of medical services that health insurers must cover without cost-sharing.

The appeal to the SCOTUS came following a 5^th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling which held that the USPSTF members had no constitutional authority because the members were appointed without Senate confirmations. Without a full Senate confirmation, the USPSTF members had no authority to issue coverage mandates.

In the SCOTUS majority decision written by Justice Kavanaugh, the court held that by law the members of the USPSTF are not “principal officers” but rather “inferior officers.”  The USPSTF members are subject to the following:

• Task Force members are appointed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services
• The Secretary directs and supervises the members’ work.
• The mandate coverage recommendations are reviewable by the Secretary.
• The members may be removed at the will of the Secretary.

The Secretary reports to the President “preserving the chain of command in Article II.”

This key ruling maintains the status quo as to the process from which preventative care treatment mandates are generated and implemented.

With that secured, what does this mean going forward? The Task Force members may not have received the green light to return to work. The recent July 9, 2025, Task Force meeting was recently cancelled by the Secretary of Health and Human Services.

We will continue to monitor this to see if the cancellation was meant to be a minor pause in operations or whether changes in members will be next to occur.

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