Court orders continued Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood
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A federal judge in Massachusetts on Monday ordered the federal government to continue Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood affiliates, writing that the health organization was likely to prevail in a dispute over President Trump's tax-and-spending law.
Why it matters: The order came after U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani last week froze a funding ban in the law for a subset of Planned Parenthood clinics that receive less than $800,000 from Medicaid annually or that don't perform abortions.
Driving the news: Talwani on Monday wrote that patients are likely to suffer adverse health consequences if care the organization provides is disrupted, including an increase in unintended pregnancies, complications from reduced access to contraceptives and more undiagnosed and untreated STIs.
- Planned Parenthood members stand to lose over a third of their aggregate revenue because they are barred from receiving Medicaid reimbursements, the order states.
- The way the law forces clinics to sever ties with the Planned Parenthood Federation and stop providing abortion as a condition for continuing to participate in Medicaid imposes a choice that "kneecaps the entire organization," Talwani wrote.
Catch up quick: Planned Parenthood sued the Trump administration early in July over a provision in the tax-and-spending law that cut off large organizations that offer abortions from federal Medicaid funding for one year.
- Republicans lawmakers originally pressed for a 10-year ban but dialed back the duration while the Senate parliamentarian reviewed whether the prohibition was in order.
- Planned Parenthood affiliates provide medical services through almost 600 health centers in 47 states.
Talwani wrote that she wasn't preventing the federal government from regulating abortion, or directing it to fund elective abortions or other services not eligible for Medicaid coverage.
- But she said the freeze prevents the Trump administration from "targeting a specific group of entities—Planned Parenthood Federation Members—for exclusion from reimbursements under the Medicaid program" when they showed "substantial likelihood" that such a targeted exclusion is unconstitutional.
The Health and Human Services Department said the order undermines state flexibility administering Medicaid and disregards concerns about accountability.
- "States should not be forced to fund organizations that have chosen political advocacy over patient care," Andrew Nixon, HHS director of communications, wrote in an email.
