Supreme Court agrees to review cases involving student loan debt and preventive care
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear three new cases, including challenges to a federal rule that forgives student debt and to the part of the Affordable Care Act that requires insurance companies to cover some preventive care services. (Image from Shutterstock)
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear three new cases, including challenges to a federal rule that forgives student debt and to the part of the Affordable Care Act that requires insurance companies to cover some preventive care services.
On Friday, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in Department of Education v. Career Colleges and Schools of Texas, a case in which the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at New Orleans blocked the implementation of a Biden administration rule that sought to streamline the process for reviewing student loan forgiveness requests from borrowers who claim that they were defrauded by their colleges.
Politico reports that the Biden administration has forgiven more than $17 billion in student loans under the borrower defense rule, which went into effect in 1994 and was revised in 2016 and 2019. The Biden administration revised the rule again in 2022 to clarify the grounds on which a claim could be filed.
In 2023, the 5th Circuit sided with Career Colleges and Schools of Texas, which said the rule made it too easy for student loan borrowers to claim fraud, according to USA Today, which also has coverage.
The Supreme Court will take up the first question in the case, which asks justices to consider whether the 5th Circuit erred in holding that the Higher Education Act of 1965 “does not permit the assessment of borrower defenses to repayment before default in administrative proceedings or on a group basis.”
On Friday, the Supreme Court also agreed to hear Becerra v. Braidwood Management. At issue in the case is whether the structure of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, a part of the Department of Health and Human Services, is unconstitutional.
The Affordable Care Act, which went into effect in 2010, empowers the Preventive Services Task Force to issue recommendations for preventive medical services. Private health insurers must cover these recommended services.
The New York Times reports that several Texas residents and two small Christian-affiliated businesses that provide health insurance to their employees objected to the task force’s decision to mandate coverage for medication preventing HIV infection. They filed a lawsuit in 2022, arguing that the requirement that members be appointed by the president and confirmed by the U.S. Senate violates the Constitution’s appointments clause.
The district court and the 5th Circuit both agreed, with the federal appeals court holding that the task force had too much independence, according to the New York Times. In asking the Supreme Court to review the case, the Biden administration said the appeals court’s “legal rationale would inflict immense practical harms.”
Reuters and Politico have additional coverage.
The Supreme Court also granted certiorari in Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. Zuch, which involves whether a tax hearing becomes moot when there is no longer a live dispute over the proposed levy that led to the hearing.
Hat tip to SCOTUSBlog.
