Supreme Court allows Medicaid cuts to Planned Parenthood

The Supreme Court cleared the way for states to kick Planned Parenthood out of Medicaid.

In a 6-3 decision released today, the high court ruled that federal law doesn’t allow Medicaid patients to bring lawsuits that allege their state has abridged their right to visit their preferred medical provider.

The Supreme Court ruled in favor of South Carolina over its effort to defund Planned Parenthood, concluding that individual Medicaid patients cannot sue to enforce their right to pick a medical provider.

In 2018, Gov. Henry McMaster issued an executive order that prohibited Planned Parenthood of South Atlantic, the local affiliate of the national group, from providing family planning services under Medicaid.

Julie Edwards, a Medicaid-eligible patient who wants to use Planned Parenthood, joined a lawsuit filed by the group, saying that under federal civil rights law she could enforce her rights in court.

Federal law has long banned federal money from being used for abortions. But Planned Parenthood clinics provide many other health care services that are typically eligible for payment under Medicaid.

The ruling will make it easier for states to deprive Planned Parenthood — and other clinics that provide abortions — from receiving Medicaid payments for any of their other non-abortion-related care.

The court’s conservative majority ruled that while federal law guarantees Medicaid beneficiaries the right to see any “qualified and willing” provider, the statute doesn’t grant patients legal standing to sue if a state denies access to certain providers.

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