Two States Fight to Hold Planned Parenthood Accountable for $17 Million in Medicaid Fraud
A federal appeals court has deal two states a minor setback in their efforts to get the Planned Parenthood abortion business to pay back millions in Medicaid fraud.
As LifeNews previously reported, Texas officials have filed a lawsuit against Planned Parenthood saying that the abortion business filed millions in false Medicaid claims for which it improperly received taxpayer reimbursement. With the repayments, damages and fines, the abortion chain could face a $1.8 billion judgment.
In 2021, a Texas judge allowed the state to defund Planned Parenthood and kick the abortion giant out of its state Medicaid program.
Medicaid is the largest stream of taxpayer funding to Planned Parenthood, and, in Texas, that funding was supposed to be cut off in after the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the state, agreeing that Texas can kick out Planned Parenthood from the program for violating the law. The decision to defund Planned Parenthood came after the abortion business was exposed selling the body parts of aborted babies.
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Now, two years later, Texas wants to recover the taxpayer funds Planned Parenthood improperly received during that time period so they can be used to help Texas residents. The state not only wants the $17 million it says the abortion company owes the state, but damages, fees and fines could total $1 billion once a full judgment is rendered as Texas brought the lawsuit under the federal False Claims Act, which allows fines for every improper payment.
U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, based in Amarillo, ruled that the case must go to trial.
But this week, a 3-judge panel of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday reversed the decision. Here’s more:
Wednesday’s narrow, pre-trial ruling — from George H.W. Bush appointee Rhesa Barksdale, George W. Bush appointee Leslie Southwick and Barack Obama appointee James Graves Jr. — focused on the challengers’ attempt to hold Planned Parenthood’s national organization financially liable by arguing that the group’s lawyers wrongly advised their affiliates in Texas and Louisiana to continue billing Medicaid while the case played out. The appeals court held that the attorneys can’t be sued by a third party for advice they gave to their own clients.
“If private attorneys did not have immunity for their activities within the scope of litigation, they would be subject to suit from a third party every time they represent an unpopular client or advance an unpopular issue,” the judges wrote. “It is not difficult to imagine the chilling effect that would have on private attorneys’ willingness to participate in unpopular cases.”
The case now returns to the district court for further arguments on the remaining claims against the state affiliates.
The ruling means the state will have to focus on the Planned Parenthood affiliates for the repayment and fines as opposed to the national organization.
The case appears to be a first of its kind to recover taxpayer funds from the nation’s biggest abortion business.
The state argues Planned Parenthood should not have received taxpayer dollars after Texas defunded it while its lawsuit against the pro-life defunding law played out in court. The state said it was “unthinkable that Planned Parenthood would continue to take advantage of funding knowing they were not entitled to keep it.”
“This baseless case is an active effort to shut down Planned Parenthood health centers,” said Alexis McGill Johnson, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America.
Defunding happened after Planned Parenthood ran afoul of the law in selling aborted baby parts.
According to Texas Right to Life: “Medicaid providers in Texas are required to follow Texas Medicaid policies and federal and state law. The Texas Office of the Inspector General (OIG) found Planned Parenthood violated federal regulations by altering abortion procedures to harvest baby body parts. Thus, the OIG terminated Planned Parenthood’s provider contract.”
Jennifer Allmon, executive director of the Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops, said Texans have much better options for health care than abortion groups like Planned Parenthood.
“There are hundreds of providers throughout the state of Texas willing to serve poor women with authentic healthcare services that are not also peddling abortion,” Allmon said. “The Texas Pregnancy Care Network has a list of such providers throughout the state and if these providers do not accept Medicaid, they can make referrals to life-affirming Medicaid providers who can offer genuine healthcare to women in need.”
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