The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled that a key component of the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) preventive care mandate is unconstitutional. However, in a decision it referred to as a “mixed bag,” the 5th Circuit limited its ruling to the plaintiffs in the case, a small group of individuals and businesses from Texas. The ACA requires non-grandfathered health plans and issuers to cover a set of recommended preventive services without imposing cost-sharing requirements, such as deductibles, copayments or coinsurance, when the services are provided by in-network providers. 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decisions In March 2023, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas struck down a key component of the ACA’s preventive care mandate as unconstitutional and issued a nationwide injunction against its enforcement. This decision involved a wide range of preventive care services, such as cancer screenings and medications for chronic diseases. The 5th Circ