Texas
Religious employers need not cover PrEP in their health plans, federal judge rules
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A federal choose in Fort Price agreed Wednesday with a gaggle of Christian conservatives that Reasonably priced Care Act necessities to cowl HIV prevention medication violate their spiritual freedom.
U.S. District Decide Reed O’Connor additionally agreed that elements of the federal authorities’s system for deciding what preventive care is roofed by the ACA violates the Structure.
O’Connor’s ruling may threaten entry to sexual and reproductive well being take care of greater than 150 million working Individuals who’re on employer-sponsored well being care plans. It’s prone to be appealed by the federal authorities.
This lawsuit is the newest in a decade of authorized challenges to the Reasonably priced Care Act, lots of which have run via O’Connor’s courtroom. In 2018, O’Connor dominated that everything of the ACA was unconstitutional, a choice that was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court docket.
At problem within the class-action lawsuit is a 2020 mandate requiring well being care plans to cowl HIV prevention treatment, often called PrEP, freed from cost as preventive care.
Within the swimsuit, a gaggle of self-described Christian enterprise homeowners and staff in Texas argue that the preventive care mandates violate their constitutional proper to non secular freedom by requiring corporations and policyholders to pay for protection that conflicts with their religion and private values.
The lawsuit was filed in 2020 by Austin legal professional Jonathan Mitchell, the authorized thoughts behind Texas’ civilly enforced six-week abortion ban. Within the swimsuit, Mitchell additionally challenges the complete framework via which the federal authorities decides what preventive companies get lined.
O’Connor threw out a number of of Mitchell’s arguments however agreed that the U.S. Preventive Providers Job Drive’s system for deciding what well being care companies are required to be absolutely lined below the ACA violates the Appointments Clause of the U.S. Structure.
“At a excessive stage, this lawsuit is a component of a bigger pushback in opposition to the federal government’s potential to control,” mentioned Allison Hoffman, a legislation professor at Penn Carey Legislation on the College of Pennsylvania. “After which additionally asking what occurs when rules and faith conflict.”
One of many plaintiffs, Dr. Steven Hotze of Katy, typically sues the federal government and elected officers over politically charged points, together with fights with GOP state leaders over emergency COVID-19 orders and an try and cease Harris County from increasing voter entry.
Within the criticism, Hotze mentioned he’s unwilling to pay for a medical health insurance plan for his staff that covers HIV prevention medication corresponding to Truvada and Descovy, recognized typically as PrEP, “as a result of these medication facilitate or encourage gay conduct, which is opposite to Dr. Hotze’s honest spiritual beliefs.”
PrEP reduces the chance of getting HIV by 99% when taken as advisable, based on the U.S. Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention. Regardless of the assertions by the Christian group in Texas, the CDC additionally says that 1 in 5 new circumstances are in girls, not males who’ve intercourse with males.
“The virus doesn’t select who to contaminate, it might infect anybody,” mentioned Dr. Satish Mocherla, an infectious illness specialist at Legacy Neighborhood Well being Providers in Dallas. “So why a selected demographic is being focused is a thriller to us.”
And opposite to what the lawsuit asserts, PrEP doesn’t “facilitate or encourage gay conduct,” mentioned John Carlo, CEO of Prism Well being North Texas and former public well being director of Dallas County. “PrEP prevention analysis reveals that its use doesn’t improve dangerous behaviors or trigger individuals to have extra intercourse or use extra intravenous medication when utilizing it,” Carlo mentioned. “That is properly studied.”
The opposite plaintiffs, together with John Kelley, a Tarrant County orthodontist, declare they “don’t want or need contraceptive protection of their medical health insurance. They are not looking for or want free sexually-transmitted illness testing lined by their medical health insurance as a result of they’re in monogamous relationships with their respective spouses. They usually are not looking for or want medical health insurance that covers Truvada or PrEP medication as a result of neither they nor any of their relations are engaged in conduct that transmits HIV.”
Kelley was beforehand the named plaintiff within the case, however the identify was modified final month “as a result of the media protection of this case has triggered a wave of threats and cyberbullying” in opposition to Kelley, based on a movement.
Extensive-reaching penalties
The lawsuit particularly addresses PrEP, however O’Connor’s ruling, which addresses how the federal authorities can resolve what preventive care is roofed in employer well being care plans, could find yourself having rather more wide-reaching penalties, Hoffman mentioned.
“We’re speaking about vaccines, we’re speaking about mammograms, we’re speaking about primary preventative well being care that was being absolutely lined,” she mentioned. “That is opening the doorways to issues that the ACA tried to eradicate, when it comes to well being plans that obtained to select and select what of those companies they absolutely lined.”
The American Medical Affiliation, together with 60 main medical organizations, issued an announcement condemning the lawsuit.
“With an antagonistic ruling, sufferers would lose entry to very important preventive well being care companies, corresponding to screening for breast most cancers, colorectal most cancers, cervical most cancers, coronary heart illness, diabetes, preeclampsia, and listening to, in addition to entry to immunizations important to sustaining a wholesome inhabitants,” the organizations wrote.
Whereas implementation has not been as common as hoped, absolutely funded preventive care via the ACA has been proven to be largely efficient at enhancing well being outcomes, decreasing well being care spending and growing uptake of those companies.
“The concept that an employer can store a la carte for coverage protection goes in opposition to what now we have discovered during the last decade within the effort to finish the HIV epidemic,” mentioned Carlo, the previous Dallas County well being director. “This takes us into the unsuitable path, and now we have solely simply begun to go into the precise one.”
At Legacy Neighborhood Well being Providers in Houston, the place sufferers embrace a big inhabitants of these receiving PrEP, the lawsuit has begun to fret those that depend on their insurance coverage to cowl their remedy — and people sufferers are usually not restricted to members of the LGBTQ neighborhood, Mocherla mentioned.
They embrace hemophiliacs and others who’re weak to HIV an infection, Mocherla mentioned. The speed of an infection because the introduction of pre-exposure prophylaxis has declined in nearly each demographic, he mentioned.
Permitting corporations to drop free protection would stop lots of Legacy’s sufferers from with the ability to afford the remedy, Mocherla mentioned, and would reverse that historic pattern of declining HIV charges.
Shutting down entry proper now, whereas “we’re on the verge of a breakthrough,” would set again the trouble to eradicate the lethal virus by many years, he mentioned.
“With out prevention, how will you treatment the illness?” Mocherla mentioned. “It’s simply stunning. … And if ending the HIV epidemic is expensive to anybody’s coronary heart, we can not go away prevention apart. And that’s why we’re mystified. We’re all very dismayed.”
Disclosure: Legacy Neighborhood Well being Providers and Prism Well being North Texas have been monetary supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan information group that’s funded partly by donations from members, foundations and company sponsors. Monetary supporters play no function within the Tribune’s journalism. Discover a full checklist of them right here.
The total program is now LIVE for the 2022 Texas Tribune Competition, occurring Sept. 22-24 in Austin. Discover the schedule of 100+ mind-expanding conversations coming to TribFest, together with the within observe on the 2022 elections and the 2023 legislative session, the state of public and better ed at this stage within the pandemic, why Texas suburbs are booming, why broadband entry issues, the legacy of slavery, what actually occurred in Uvalde and a lot extra. See this system.
Texas
Races to Watch: Texas education savings accounts
Texas Governor Greg Abbott has made education savings accounts, what some people call school vouchers, a priority this election season.
The vouchers, which are opposed by Democrats and some rural Republicans, would give families state money to pay for private schools.
Gov. Abbott has made passing education savings accounts a priority, actively campaigning against Republican candidates who oppose the legislation.
Abbott told FOX 4’s Steven Dial that he is “certain” that his plan will pass in the new session.
Six House incumbents lost back in the March primary.
That leaves Abbott two votes shy of the 76 needed to pass education savings accounts.
In Tuesday night’s runoff elections, there are four incumbents fighting to keep their seats in the Texas House.
Gary VanDeaver was the only incumbent of the four to finish first in the March election.
Texas House District 1: Gary VanDeaver (Incumbent) vs. Chris Spencer
Gary VanDeaver has served District 1 in the Texas House in 2015.
He is being challenged by businessman Chris Spencer.
District 1 represents Texarkana, New Boston and Paris.
Texas House District 33: Justin Holland (Incumbent) vs. Katrina Pierson
Justin Holland has served as the representative for District 33 since 2017.
His opponent is former Trump campaign spokeswoman Katrina Pierson.
District 33 is composed of several cities, including all of Rockwall County.
Texas House District 44: John Kuempel (Incumbent) vs. Alan Schoolcraft
John Kuempel was first sworn in to serve House District 44 in 2010.
He is facing a challenge from former Texas State Rep. Alan Schoolcraft, who served in the House from 1981 to 1993.
District 44 is made up of Guadalipe and Gonzales counties.
Texas House District 58: DeWayne Burns (Incumbent) vs. Helen Kerwin
Dwayne Burns has been a State House Rep. since 2014.
He is being challenged by former Glen Rose mayor and Somervell County commissioner Helen Kerwin.
District 58 includes Johnson County and Sommervell County, including Glen Rose.
Texas
Texas power outage map: Over 800,000 outages reported after storms, with more on the way
Deadly storms kill at least 22 people in multiple states
In Texas, those who were killed by the powerful storms and tornadoes included some children. Homes were also destroyed in Arkansas and Texas.
Over 800,000 outages have been reported in Texas after severe storms swept through the state over Memorial Day weekend, with more on the way Tuesday.
At least 22 people were killed over the weekend from the storms as they moved through states in the central and southern U.S. The warm, moist air that’s fueled one of the most active recent years for tornadoes will linger over the southern Plains, bringing thunderstorms with damaging wind gusts and large hail to Texas on Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service.
The weather service said the clusters of storms are expected to dump heavy rain, triggering flash floods particularly in areas west of Dallas-Fort Worth and north of Austin, and scattered flooding and strong thunderstorms could extend from the Texas Panhandle to the western Gulf Coast.
Storms are expected to continue overnight, where they should move eastward and decrease in intensity.
Here’s where power outages have already been reported in Texas.
See photos: Severe storms over holiday weekend leave trail of disaster
Texas counties with large power outages on Tuesday
The majority of outages over the last 72 hours are around the Dallas-Fort Worth area, with another large number of outages around Houston, according to a power outage tracker from USA TODAY.
Here are the Texas counties with the largest number of outages as of Tuesday morning:
- Dallas County: Over 300,000 outages
- Harris County: Over 126,000 outages
- Collin County: over 94,000 outages
- Denton County: Over 66,000 outages
- Tarrant County: Over 52,000 outages
- Kaufman County: Over 40,000 outages
Texas power outages: See map
Contributing: Christopher Cann, USA TODAY.
Texas
Texas runoffs put Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales, state's GOP House speaker in middle of party feud
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas is out to save his job Tuesday in a GOP primary runoff that has put rifts within the party on display.
Gonzales, who has clashed with some of his hard-right colleagues in Washington and drawn a rebuke from the state party, is in a race against Brandon Herrera, a gun-rights YouTube creator with more than 3 million followers.
Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan also faces a tough challenge that could see him ousted from his powerful seat, upending the Republican-controlled Legislature. Phelan angered conservatives for leading the 2023 impeachment of state Attorney General Ken Paxton, who was later acquitted in a Senate trial and then set out to remove those who voted against him.
A Gonzales loss, his supporters warn, would give Democrats an opening to flip a traditionally moderate district in November, while a change in Texas House leadership could push the state’s policymaking even further right.
Here’s a look at the key primary runoffs in Texas:
A BIG BRAWL IN A BIG DISTRICT
Gonzales represents a sprawling district that spans some 800 miles (nearly 1,300 kilometers) of the Texas-Mexico border.
He was first elected in 2020 and easily won again in 2022, but the state Republican Party sanctioned him over a voting record that highlighted an independent streak. That included support for protecting same-sex marriage and for new gun-safety laws following the 2022 Uvalde school shooting, in his district, that left 21 people dead.
What to know about the 2024 Election
Gonzales has also clashed with some hard-right Republicans, calling them “scumbags.”
Herrera, a gun manufacturer and gun-rights activist, was second with nearly 25% of the vote in a five-way primary in March to force the runoff. Gonzales was first with 45%.
Gonzales has the support of some key Republicans who may be wary of ousting an incumbent from an ostensibly safe seat. U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson has attended a fundraiser for Gonzales, and Gov. Greg Abbott has endorsed him. Herrera’s support on the far right has included a campaign appearance with Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida.
The winner will face Democrat Santos Limon in November.
Only one other House incumbent has been defeated this year: Republican Rep. Jerry Carl of Alabama, who lost an unusual primary to Rep. Barry Moore after the state was forced to redraw congressional districts.
WHO RUNS THE TEXAS HOUSE?
Usually reelection would be a shoo-in for a speaker whose Republican majority passed some of the toughest anti-abortion laws in the country, vastly expanded gun rights, supported Abbott’s highly visible anti-immigration platforms and curtailed LGBTQ+ rights.
Yet Phelan was pushed into a runoff with oil and gas consultant David Covey. Not only that, Phelan came in second in the March primary, meaning he has ground to make up Tuesday. The winner will not have a Democratic challenger in November.
A Phelan loss would start a new round of campaigning for speakership, which is chosen from among the state House members.
TRUMP TIES
Katrina Pierson, a former spokeswoman for former President Donald Trump, is up against incumbent Justin Holland for his state House seat in the Dallas suburbs.
Holland was among House Republicans who voted to impeach Paxton. He also voted to raise the age for purchasing assault rifles from 18 to 21, and voted against Abbott’s plan to spend public education money on private schools.
CHALLENGING CUELLAR
Republicans are also deciding who will run in November against Henry Cuellar, a longtime Democratic congressman who along with his wife was indicted this spring on federal bribery, money laundering and fraud charges. He has said he is innocent; three associates have pleaded guilty in related investigations.
Jay Furman, a retired Navy veteran, and rancher and businessman Lazaro Garza, are vying for the nomination to challenge Cuellar in the South Texas district that he has held since 2005. Both have campaigned on tighter border security and immigration restrictions.
There’s another Cuellar on the ballot, too: Rosie Cuellar, his sister, faces Cecilia Castellano in the Democratic runoff for a South Texas state House seat. The March primary was held before Henry Cuellar was indicted, and it is unclear whether his legal troubles will impact her campaign.
The winner advances to the November general election against Republican Don McLaughlin, who was mayor of Uvalde when the school shooting happened.
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