Medicaid – REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS ALERTS

09 Jul

Limiting Legal Remedies for Medicaid Prioritizes Politics over Access to Care

JordanLatest NewsAbortion Rights, Anti-abortion, Healthcare, Low Income, Medicaid, Reproductive rights, SCOTUS, South Carolina

In the first U.S. Supreme Court case involving access to abortion after the 2024 election, a 6-3 majority allowed states to block Medicaid patients from choosing their own health care provider. Medina v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic involved a diabetic Medicaid patient seeking comprehensive health care at Planned Parenthood South Atlantic (PPSA). In 2018, South Carolina blocked PPSA from Medicaid unless it would agree not to provide any abortions. Under federal law, Medicaid already only pays for abortions in cases of rape, incest, or to save the life or health of the patient. But that wasn’t enough for South Carolina policymakers, who…

09 Jul

Judge says government must keep funding Planned Parenthood in spite of Medicaid cutoff

JordanLatest NewsAnti-abortion, GOP, Healthcare, Low Income, Medicaid, Reproductive rights

A federal judge has temporarily blocked the government’s effort to defund Planned Parenthood by ordering President Donald Trump’s administration to continue funding to the nation’s largest abortion provider for at least the next 14 days.

03 Jun

Postpartum depression rates, treatment higher among Medicaid recipients

CoreyLatest NewsMedicaid, post-partum depression, Pregnancy risks

Perinatal experts said postpartum depression is more common than most people think and those covered by Medicaid are at higher risk.

22 May

ACLU Responds to House Passage of Reconciliation Bill that Cuts Medicaid, Harming Millions of People with Disabilities

DoryLatest NewsGOP, legislation, Medicaid, People With Disabilities, Reproductive rights, United States

The U.S. House of Representatives today passed H.R. 1, the so-called One Big, Beautiful Bill Act, that attacks civil liberties and cuts Medicaid by at least $600 billion, the largest cut in the program’s history. The reconciliation bill now moves to the Senate.

20 May

Report: Proposed Medicaid changes could hurt AR expectant mothers

RandyLatest NewsArkansas, Healthcare, Medicaid, Reproductive rights, United States, Women's Health

Changes to Medicaid being proposed by members of Congress could have a significant effect on women in Arkansas who are of childbearing age, according to a recent report from the Center for Children and Families at Georgetown University

24 Apr

If both Title X and Medicaid are gutted, Missourians will face impossible barriers to care

AlanLatest NewsHealthcare, Medicaid, Missouri, Reproductive Health, Title X, United States

Missouri’s sexual and reproductive health care safety-net is in crisis — and Congress must act before it’s too late. The attacks are coming fast and from every direction.

31 Mar

George Washington University Faculty file amicus brief urging SCOTUS to protect Planned Parenthood Medicaid coverage

RandyLatest NewsAbortion Rights, Healthcare, Medicaid, Public Health, Reproductive rights

More than 40 faculty members filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this month in support of maintaining Medicaid coverage for Planned Parenthood in South Carolina. The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Wednesday for Medina v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, which will determine if the state of South Carolina’s 2018 decision to deny Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood infringes on Medicaid beneficiaries’ right to choose their health care providers. In response, 490 public health deans, organizations and professors — including 40 GW faculty members from the Milken Institute School of Public Health and the School of Medicine and Health Sciences…

01 Oct

Maryland is a safe haven for abortion care — with one obscure exception

BarbraLatest NewsAbortion Care, Healthcare, Maryland, Medicaid, Reproductive rights

Women who qualified for Medicaid because they are pregnant may have to foot the bill for an abortion There’s a wonky, long-running and almost entirely under-the-radar hitch that makes it harder for some women in Maryland to get an abortion.

02 Jul

Abortion rights groups file suit to overturn ban on taxpayer-funded abortions

MollyLatest News, United StatesAbortion Rights, Constitutional Protections, Lawsuit, Medicaid, Michigan, Reproductive Freedom, taxpayer-funded, United States

"The ACLU Michigan announced Thursday it had filed a suit challenging Michigan’s ban on Medicaid coverage for abortion and related care, arguing the ban violates the state’s newly enacted constitutional protections for reproductive freedom. The suit, filed alongside the law firm Goodwin Procter on behalf of YWCA Kalamazoo, which offers financial assistance to help people pay for abortion care and related costs. According to a statement from ACLU Michigan, 77% of those who YWCA Kalamazoo provides with this assistance have incomes that qualify them for Medicaid. The suit argues the ban on Medicaid coverage for abortion violates the right to reproductive freedom…

29 Mar

Variability in Payment Rates for Abortion Services Under Medicaid

MollyLatest News, United StatesAbortion Care, Abortion Services, Healthcare, Medicaid, Payment Rates, United States

"Medicaid is a joint federal and state program and Medicaid payment rates, which are set by the states, have been the focus of policy attention since its early days. Generally speaking, Medicaid reimbursement rates have historically been lower than those paid by Medicare and are even lower relative to private insurance rates. These lower rates have been cited as a disincentive to Medicaid provider participation, which limits the pool of providers willing to serve Medicaid enrollees and constrains their access to care..."

20 Mar

Nevada judge blocks state from limiting Medicaid coverage for abortions

MollyLatest News, United StatesAbortion Rights, coverage, Department of Health and Human Services, equal rights protections, Judge, legislation, Medicaid, Nevada, United States, Written order

"A Nevada judge has struck down the state’s limits on Medicaid coverage for abortion services, saying the restrictions violate equal rights protections. Clark County District Judge Erika Ballou said Tuesday from the bench that she planned to issue a written order at a later date directing the state Department of Health and Human Services to grant Medicaid coverage for all abortions. Currently, Nevada’s Medicaid program only covers abortions for pregnancies that are life-threatening or result from rape or incest...."

15 Feb

Missouri Supreme Court again says state can’t deny Medicaid funds to Planned Parenthood

BarbraLatest News, United StatesAbortion Care, Funding, Medicaid, Missouri, State Supreme Court

Missouri’s highest court for the second time in four years rebuked the efforts by Republican lawmakers to ban abortion providers and their affiliates from receiving Medicaid reimbursements.

29 Jan

Pennsylvania high court revives a case challenging Medicaid limits for abortions

MollyLatest News, United StatesAbortion Care, Abortion Coverage, Abortion Rights, Healthcare, Medicaid, Pennsylvania, Planned Parenthood, Reproductive healthcare, United States

"Pennsylvania's Supreme Court said Monday that a lower court must hear a challenge to the constitutionality of a decades-old state law that limits the use of Medicaid dollars to cover the cost of abortions, a major victory for Planned Parenthood and the abortion clinic operators who sued. The decision also elicited hope that the state Supreme Court may one day find a right to abortion in Pennsylvania's constitution after the U.S. Supreme Court ended nearly a half-century of federal abortion protections by overturning Roe v. Wade...."