Our prima facie case of fraud is supported by related cases involving fraudulent practices identified by Whistleblowers from inside the Texas Planned Parenthood network.
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Planned Parenthood received most of its federal funding from Medicaid, about $390 million out of $450 million nationwide. Investigations in multiple states have found that Planned Parenthood clinics had not illegally handled tissues.
“Earlier this year, you committed and condoned numerous acts of misconduct captured on video that reveal repeated program violations and breach the minimum standards of care required of a Medicaid enrollee”, Inspector General Stuart Bowen Jr. said in the letter, the Austin American-Statesman reported. The videos, which concern Planned Parenthood’s handling of fetal tissue, have been disputed as inaccurate and deceptively edited.
The Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals contracts with Planned Parenthood clinics in Baton Rouge and New Orleans, which serve about 5,200 patients for physical exams, contraceptive services, screenings for disease and cancers, and pregnancy testing and counseling.
Texas announced Monday that it is cutting off Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood due to concerns raised by a series of videos showing Planned Parenthood officials discussing fetal tissue, and the alleged profits gained from selling them.
Planned Parenthood issued a statement saying: “This is a victory for the men and women of Louisiana”. But U.S. District Judge John deGravelles ruled this morning that Louisiana must provide Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood for another 14 days while the lawsuit over the order works its way through the courts.
The letter also notes that there are a great deal of alternative clinics to Planned Parenthood in Texas.
“Tens of thousands of women are already going without care after years of policies aimed at blocking access to care at Planned Parenthood”, Tafolla said. But similar efforts in other states have been blocked by the federal courts because states are not permitted to pick and choose which organizations may receive reimbursement through the Medicaid program.
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Texas dropped Planned Parenthood clinics from the state’s Medicaid program on Monday, Governor Greg Abbott announced Monday. “We will fight back against the outrageous, malicious, political attack in Texas with everything we’ve got, and will protect women’s access to the health care they need and deserve”. The videos showed the Planned Parenthood affiliate violating procedures by attempting to harvest fetal organs for donation and allowing private citizens access to the lab while only wearing gloves. Other healthcare providers can handle the increased number of women who choose to seek services elsewhere as a result of the funding cut, officials determined. It seems unusual that a state can’t determine where its 40% share of Medicaid funding should go, regardless of who is involved in supplying services.
