Dozens of medical organizations, including the American College of Cardiology (ACC) and Society of Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI), have issued a new warning that key benefits of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) are in serious jeopardy.
The American Medical Association helped organize the joint statement. The lawsuit in question, Kelley v. Becerra, is currently before a federal district court judge in the Northern District of Texas. The lawsuit’s focus is the section of the ACA that requires insurance providers and group health plans to cover certain preventive services at no cost.
This one aspect of the ACA, the groups estimated, helped more than 151 million patients receive free care in 2020 alone. But Kelley v. Becerra could put such access at risk.
“With an adverse ruling, patients would lose access to vital preventive healthcare services, such as screening for breast cancer, colorectal cancer, cervical cancer, heart disease, obesity, diabetes, preeclampsia, and hearing, as well as well child visits and access to immunizations critical to maintaining a healthy population,” the groups wrote in a statement. “Our patients cannot afford to lose this critical access to preventive healthcare services. Rolling back this access would reverse important progress and make it harder for physicians to diagnose and treat diseases and medical conditions that, if caught early, are significantly more manageable.”
The total number of organizations included in the joint statement is 61. Multiple medical imaging organizations, including the American College of Radiology (ACR), American Society of Echocardiography (ASE) and Society of Interventional Radiology (SIR), are part of that group, highlighting how important they believe it is to protect access to preventive care.
Michael has more than 16 years of experience as a professional writer and editor. He has written at length about cardiology, radiology, artificial intelligence and other key healthcare topics.