The panel of judges on Wednesday gave the two parties until Friday to submit the terms of a possible agreement on staying a federal judge’s order that blocked ObamaCare’s preventive care requirement.
Remember: Earlier this year U.S. District Court Judge Reed O’Connor struck down a provision in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that requires insurers to cover certain preventive services with no cost-sharing.
These services include PrEP for HIV, cancer screenings and mental health screenings.
Oral arguments appealing the ruling took place on Tuesday in front of three judges — two Republican appointees and one Democratic appointee.
During arguments, the federal government suggested that the provision requiring preventive services coverage only be allowed to be blocked in Texas where all the plaintiffs in the case reside.
The plaintiffs argued that a stay of Reed’s order was unnecessary as they said there was no evidence private insurers or employers will stop covering preventive services, as was initially required by the ACA, as long as the case is being appealed and there is a chance that the order is thrown out.
The judges on the panel expressed dismay over predicting how insurers will react to the ruling. One of the judges, Judge Leslie Southwick, an appointee of George W. Bush, suggested the two sides were not that far apart in their positions on a potential stay of the ruling and asked that they find an agreement on a solution.
