Indiana Planned Parenthood To Stop Taking Medicaid Patients
The state cut funding in May but the clinics had been using $100,000 in contributions to help defray costs of seeing Medicaid patients.
The Indianapolis Star: Planned Parenthood Stops Treating Medicaid Clients As Stopgap Funds Run Out
Planned Parenthood will stop treating Medicaid patients and lay off two of its three STD specialists after the donations it had been using to replace state funds ran out Monday. A tough state anti-abortion law cutting off Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood of Indiana went into effect May 10, but more than $100,000 in donations has helped the health-services provider stay open and continue serving Hoosiers on Medicaid -- until this week. "Our 9,300 Medicaid patients, including those who had appointments Tuesday, are going to see their care disrupted," said Betty Cockrum, president of Planned Parenthood of Indiana (Gillers and Scoggin, 6/21).
CQ HealthBeat: No More Medicaid Patients, Says Planned Parenthood of Indiana
Planned Parenthood of Indiana officials said Monday that they likely will have to stop accepting Medicaid patients by the end of the day. The announcement came following enactment in May of a state law that prevents Medicaid payments to entities that also provide abortions, a decision that Obama administration officials say violates federal Medicaid regulations (Norman, 6/20).
Meanwhile, funding cuts made by Congress in the spring are affecting small clinics in Minnesota.
Minneapolis Star Tribune: Budget Cuts Close 6 Planned Parenthood Clinics In Minnesota
Planned Parenthood is closing six clinics in outstate Minnesota on Aug. 1 because of federal budget cuts made this spring in a highly politicized abortion battle. The state's largest provider of family planning and abortions announced the closures Monday, citing an 11 percent reduction in its budget because of cuts to the federal Title X program (Olson, 6/20).