Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio and Planned Parenthood Southwest Ohio Region are challenging the Ohio Department of Medicaid’s decision to ban them from Medicaid.
Both Planned Parenthood centers are requesting an administrative hearing to object to ODM’s decision.
The Planned Parenthood affiliates said they received letters from the Ohio Department of Medicaid, dated Sept. 24, suggesting they be cut from Medicaid. The letter referenced the federal budget reconciliation bill that was passed and signed into law by President Donald Trump in July, which bans Planned Parenthood from receiving federal Medicaid payments for one year.
“We have officially requested a hearing with the Ohio Department of Medicaid to affirm our status as a trusted Medicaid provider without any reports of misconduct that would justify our termination from Medicaid,” Melissa Cohen, general counsel for PPGOH and PPSWO, said in a statement. “We hope the hearing will clarify that the federal funding prohibition is purely a political attack on Planned Parenthood and does not provide any basis for ODM to terminate Planned Parenthood from the program.”
The national Planned Parenthood Federation of America is suing to stop the federal cuts from being enforced. A federal judge temporarily stopped the cuts in July, but another judge allowed the cuts to go through in a September ruling. The national Planned Parenthood group pledged to continue fighting the law. Medicaid already does not cover direct abortion services.
The Ohio Department of Medicaid did not respond to the Ohio Capital Journal’s request for comment.
Banning Planned Parenthood from Medicaid will prevent more than 27,000 Ohioans from accessing reproductive health care at their centers, according to the organization.
Two Planned Parenthood clinics in Springfield and Hamilton closed earlier this year and Medicaid cuts were cited as the reason. Those clinics did not provide abortion services, focusing instead on primary care services and screenings for cancer and sexually transmitted infections.
Planned Parenthood Southwest Ohio President and CEO Nan Whaley said she was disappointed but not surprised.
“Anti-abortion politicians are once again using every tool at their disposal to block people from accessing essential, life-saving care at Planned Parenthood, indefinitely,” she said in a statement. “This move is part of a broader, coordinated strategy to push reproductive health care out of reach.”
This story was originally published by the Ohio Capital Journal and republished here with permission.