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Originally Posted by PiKA2001
This is crazy. I didn't know PP received funding from the state. The woman's healthcare plan is still being funded but now the state is having to absorb the total cost.
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The clinics were eligible for Medicaid like other healthcare clinics. If I remember correctly, because of state law in Texas, Planned Parenthoods in Texas are separate - one for abortions, a different one for other healthcare and family planning services. Meaning you can't get a breast cancer screening and an abortion in the same office. (This may be a different state, but I think it's Texas, someone can correct me if I'm wrong).
It was the "other healthcare and family planning services" part that was receiving public funding (of any sort - the abortion services portion has to be funded through charging and/or donations because of the Hyde Amendment). Rick Perry and his buds blocked PP from receiving funding through the Medicaid Women's Health Program. The HHS threatened to cut off all medicaid funding for family planning as a result, and they still went through with it. So the HHS went through with their threat.
An HHS spokesperson said: "Medicaid law is very clear; a state may not restrict patients' choice of providers of services like mammograms and other cancer screenings, if those providers are qualified to deliver care covered by Medicaid."
And yeah, it's $35 million extra healthcare dollars they have to allocate, and yeah, they're probably not going to be able to do it. But never fear, they're now suing the Obama administration. Too bad federal law and HHS policy isn't on their side.
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