Dive Brief:
- Planned Parenthood and ten of its patients launched a federal lawsuit this week to prevent Texas from removing the organization from its Medicaid program.
- The state announced its intent to end funding in October in response to the alleged “acts of misconduct” brought to light through a series of controversial undercover videos by anti-abortion advocates.
- In 2015, Texas reportedly provided $310,000 in state money to the organization and distributed $2.8 million in federal dollars.
Dive Insight:
The dispute in Texas follows numerous lawsuits across the U.S. that debate the use of Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood clinics--a complicated call since Medicaid is joint federal/state program.
Federal health officials told Texas last month removing Planned Parenthood from its Medicaid program could be a violation of U.S. law, and a similar federal case in Louisiana recently resulted in a temporary halt to state efforts. Additional cases are underway in Alabama and Arkansas.
Planned Parenthood has previously sued Texas over a inclusion in a different federal/state program, notes The Texas Tribune. In 2012, the organization challenged an effort to remove it from the Texas Medicaid Women’s Health Program. Although it lost, the Obama administration ended its $9-to-$1 match for the program, and Texas was forced to relaunch it purely with state funding.