Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul joined nearly two dozen colleagues this week to request the Supreme Court uphold an Affordable Care Act provision that guarantees access to preventative care. [ Health News Illinois ] 

The 24 attorneys general, led by Raoul, asked the justices in an amicus brief to reverse a lower court’s decision that struck down the law’s requirement for health plans to cover certain preventive services and treatments without charging out-of-pocket costs.

The brief argues that eliminating the provision could create a gap in health coverage that states could not fill due to federal law that prevents them from regulating certain insurance plans. State-level mandates, it argued, would not be as effective without corresponding federal guidance on implementation and enforcement.

Additionally, the attorneys general said the preventative care provision expanded healthcare access for women, specifically to contraceptives, and reduced socioeconomic, racial and ethnic disparities in healthcare.

“All patients in Illinois and across the country deserve continued access to what are often lifesaving, preventive health services,” Raoul said in a statement.

The initial lawsuit was brought in 2020 by Christian-owned companies who challenged the requirement that their employer-sponsored insurance plans cover preventive medicines for HIV.

The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled this summer that the provision was unconstitutional, but froze a lower court decision that would scrap the requirement. The appeals court said only the plaintiffs could exclude the services from their plans as the case continues to work through the legal system.

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