Attorney General Ken Paxton, on behalf of the State of Texas and an anonymous “Alex Doe,” sued Planned Parenthood over improperly received Medicaid funds which they should have returned.
We are never surprised when abortionists are caught in scandals — after all, how much integrity can people have when their business is run by taking vulnerable preborn children’s lives? Well, today Texas is seeing the abortion giant’s true colors shine through as they are accused of retaining $10 million from Medicaid between February 1, 2017 and March 2021, to which they were not entitled and which they were obligated to repay.
Since October 2015, the Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) of the Office of Inspector General of Texas, the administrative office over Texas Medicaid, has been in the process of removing Planned Parenthood from the Medicaid system. Why, you may ask?
Well, a 2015 undercover video surfaced revealing that Planned Parenthood had been illegally harvesting and selling baby parts from improperly committed abortions. Due to this exposé and the findings of fraudulent billing practices, HHSC began the process of terminating the abortion giant’s Medicaid contract because they had violated the terms of their agreement with the state of Texas and the federal government.
At this point Planned Parenthood refused to properly petition HHSC, which providers who are given a notice of termination typically do. Instead, the abortion group chose to file a lawsuit against HHSC to remain in the Medicaid program.
In the meantime, in December of 2016, Planned Parenthood received their final notice of removal, which the group had 15 days to appeal, but they refused to do. As stated on page 3 of the suit,
“Planned Parenthood failed to exercise any of its rights to challenge the termination, and by mid-January 2017 all of Planned Parenthood’s deadlines to request a hearing had expired.”
Planned Parenthood’s suit against HHSC was finally decided in November of 2020, when the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, concluded that Planned Parenthood did not have the authority to challenge the state’s determination that the group had disqualified themselves from government funding.
Naturally, Planned Parenthood refused to give up on the possibility of extra cash, and continued their fight by requesting a 90-day grace period with HHSC. Instead, HHSC granted the abortion group a 30-day grace period to find their clients new providers, but right when the granted 30-day grace period was about to expire, Planned Parenthood sued HHSC again, attempting to remain in the Medicaid program one last time. Finally, on March 12, 2021 this final suit was dismissed and the dispute came to a long-anticipated close.
However, in the midst of these proceedings, Planned Parenthood had lost their standing as a qualified Medicaid provider in Texas on February 1, 2017. Even so, Planned Parenthood had continued to file for reimbursements, of which they claimed to have received around $10 million between this final date through March of 2021, when Planned Parenthood’s suits against HHSC finally were resolved. The group should have returned these funds within a 60-day period according to the Texas Administrative Code, and failing to do so has left the group liable to administrative action.
Attorney General Ken Paxton released the following statement regarding the issue:
“It is unthinkable that Planned Parenthood would continue to take advantage of funding knowing they were not entitled to keep it… I will not allow them to benefit from this abhorrent conduct after they were caught violating medical standards and lying to law enforcement.”
Texas Right to Life is disturbed to learn that Texan’s tax dollars have been continuously handed to Planned Parenthood in the process of this debacle, but we are hopeful to see justice prevail and one of the worst anti-Life offenders finally paying for one of their many crimes.