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Source and Scope of Public Health Legal Powers

Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas Family Planning and Preventative Health Services, Inc. et al. v. Kauffman et al.

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Overview

Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas Family Planning and Preventative Health Services, Inc. et al. v. Kauffman et al. (U.S. Court of Appeals, 5th Circuit, November 23, 2020): In a split decision, the 5th Circuit concluded that Texas and Louisiana can cut Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood, holding that patients do not have an unambiguous right to challenge a state determination that a provider is not “qualified.” This decision overruled Planned Parenthood of Gulf Coast, Inc. v. Gee, which found that a state agency or actor could not find that a Medicaid provider was unqualified unless the provider was unqualified under state or federal law. The court’s decision largely rested on the text of 42 U.S.C. § 1396(a)(23), which does not unambiguously state that Medicaid patients may contest a state’s determination that a provider is not “qualified.” Whether a particular provider is deemed “qualified” statutorily is a matter to be left to the provider and the state or federal government. Read the decision here. 

View all cases in the Judicial Trends in Public Health – January 15, 2021.

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