Federal Court to consider Ind. Planned Parenthood defunding law

The state and federal governments have reached a standoff over family planning funds.

Last week, the federal government sent a letter to the state government in response to Indiana’s new Planned Parenthood law which said denying Medicaid patients their choice of health care provider is illegal under federal law. The state government now has to defend the law in federal court.

The law in question, HEA 1210, cuts off federal Medicaid funds allocated through the state government to Planned Parenthood of Indiana, meaning Medicaid patients can no longer receive care at Planned Parenthood clinics in the state. HEA 1210 was signed by Gov. Mitch Daniels last month.  

Planned Parenthood of Indiana filed for an emergency injunction against the bill the  day it was signed by the governor last month.

This request would have stopped the law from being enforced while the court considered the legality of the law.

The request was denied by a federal court judge in Indianapolis, but the law could still be overturned. The court is expected to hear arguments from Planned Parenthood and lawyers for the state government Monday, June 6, about whether or not to overturn it.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services denied Indiana’s request to approve the new law in a letter dated June 1. The state government has 60 days to appeal the decision.

If Indiana does not alter the law, all of the Medicaid funds that Indiana receives could be at risk, a total amounting to approximately $4 billion annually allocated to Indiana.

The federal government could also choose to withhold all of Indiana’s family planning funds allocated under Medicaid, which amounts to approximately $4 million per year.

Under federal Medicaid law, it is illegal in most cases to deny Medicaid patients their choice of preferred health care provider.

There are some exceptions to this, but family planning services, such as those offered by Planned Parenthood, “are subject to additional protections” under federal law, the letter from the federal government stated.

The federal government said “we assume this decision is not unexpected,” as the Indiana Legislative Services Agency, a non-partisan agency that provides advice to state legislators, had already informed state legislators that the law was likely illegal and that it could put Indiana at risk for losing millions of dollars in federal funds.

The state agency sent a fiscal impact statement to state legislators on April 19, a month before the bill was passed, stating “while States are permitted to waive a recipient’s freedom of choice of a provider to implement managed care, restricting freedom of choice with respect to providers of family planning services is prohibited.”

— Zach Ammerman