PHOENIX โ State Medicaid officials have agreed not to try to cut off family planning dollars from Planned Parenthood, at least not yet.
A new law that takes effect Saturday permits the director of the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System to unilaterally exclude Planned Parenthood from the program if he decides that it โfailed to segregate taxpayer dollars (for family planning) from abortions.โ And the law gives him the power to do that โat his sole discretion.โ
Attorneys for Planned Parenthood and Desert Star Family Planning filed suit last month in federal court.
They claim the measure illegally interferes with the right of Medicaid recipients to get family planning services where they want . And that, they say, is a violation of federal Medicaid regulations.
But Planned Parenthood attorney Diana Salgado said her organization will not be asking U.S. District Court Judge Roslyn Silver to block the new law from taking effect. That follows assurances from AHCCCS officials that there will not be any immediate action taken against abortion providers that also get Medicaid dollars for family planning.
Beth Kohler, the agencyโs deputy director, confirmed that understanding.
But she said AHCCCS has made no agreement to ignore the law indefinitely. Instead, she said, her agency first needs to hire outside counsel to determine whether to agree to a standstill agreement, and for how long.
Hanging in the balance is whether about 2,500 individuals who get family planning services through Planned Parenthood will be forced to seek care elsewhere.
Both state and federal law already preclude the use of taxpayer dollars for elective abortions. But abortion foes contend the money that goes to Planned Parenthood for family planning can effectively underwrite the cost of terminating pregnancies.
The law not only requires abortion providers to prove to Tom Betlach, the AHCCCS director, that tax dollars are not funding abortions, but to show that those dollars do not pay for any general overhead expenses that might provide an indirect subsidy, like utilities. And Betlach need give family planning providers just 24 hoursโ notice before cutting off their Medicaid funds.
Gov. Doug Ducey signed the measure. Christina Corieri, his health-policy adviser, said the law protects taxpayer dollars.
But attorneys for challengers contend the measure illegally interferes with the right of Medicaid recipients to get family planning services where they want, something they say violates federal Medicaid regulations.
This is the second time AHCCCS has been sued over this issue.
Federal appellate judges voided a 2012 law that declared that any organization providing abortions cannot get Medicaid funds for family planning services.
The judges said lawmakers cannot enact such a restriction.
This new law is designed to get around the ruling by saying abortion providers will be cut from the Medicaid program only if they cannot prove their family planning dollars are not in any way subsidizing the cost of elective abortions.
Kohler said whatโs yet to be negotiated is how long AHCCCS wonโt enforce the law.
