The Braidwood ruling: What does it mean for Colorado?

For more than a decade, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has required that health insurance plans cover a wide range of preventive health care services at no cost to patients. However, access to some of those services is at risk after a federal court ruled last month that the ACA’s preventive services mandate is unconstitutional in a case called Braidwood v. Becerra.  

The Children’s Campaign has been working alongside partners for years to help guarantee coverage of critical preventive services in Colorado statute. The Braidwood decision injects uncertainty into our health care system and makes this work even more essential.  

On Episode 8 of The West Steps, we dive deeper into the Braidwood ruling and the impact it could have on Americans’ access to essential health services. We hear from Erin Miller, our Vice President of Health Initiatives; Jack Teter, Regional Director of Government Affairs at Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains; Isabel Cruz, Policy Director at Colorado Consumer Health Initiative; and Eric Waskowicsz, Policy Manager at United States of Care.  

Our guests open the episode by sharing their favorite preventive service and describe how these services impact peoples’ lives. We then shift to a discussion of how the Braidwood ruling has the potential to impact Colorado kids and families if continuous work is not done to guarantee access to these services. We also discuss the recent passage of SB23-189, which will allow many Coloradans to maintain access to important preventive health services, helping to reduce health disparities and protecting families from unexpected, expensive bills.  

Resources 

• Learn more about SB23-189 [Visit our Capitol Updates page] 
• Subscribe to our blog [KidsFlash] 
• United States of Care resources on Braidwood: https://unitedstatesofcare.org/braidwood-v-becerra-resources/ 
• Preserving Coloradans’ access to preventive services amid challenges to the ACA - Colorado Children's Campaign (coloradokids.org)