Amid the Trump administration’s scorched earth approach to governing — which includes threatening hundreds of billions of dollars in Medicaid funding — a serious threat to health care has gone under the radar. It could undo years of progress toward preventing disease and making Americans healthier and more secure.

In Kennedy v. Braidwood, a case being heard today at the Supreme Court, a lawyer with a long history of attacking fundamental rights has taken aim at the Affordable Care Act’s no-cost preventive health care guarantee. The plaintiffs include an employer and several individuals who challenge the constitutionality of the guarantee.

Their case has been moving through the courts for five years and finally has reached the Supreme Court on one of their most crucial claims: that coverage recommendations made by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force are unconstitutional. Should plaintiffs prevail, over 150 million Americans ultimately could lose all free preventive benefits since the Affordable Care Act’s 2010 passage.

On the line in the immediate appeal is cost-free........

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