In 2018, the South Carolina Department of Health & Human Services determined that the state’s abortion providers were unqualified to receive state Medicaid funding.
Citing a state law prohibiting the use of its own public funds for abortion, South Carolina announced in July 2018 that Planned Parenthood could no longer participate in the State’s Medicaid program. At the same time, the State took steps that, it said, would help ensure that a “variety of other nongovernmental entities and governmental agencies” would continue to provide “access to necessary medical care and important women’s health and family planning services.”
Opinion at 3. Planned Parenthood and Julie Edwards, a state resident demanding to use Medicaid services at Planned Parenthood, sued, arguing that states should not be permitted to disqualify abortion providers.
While the Medicaid Act provides that patients can receive services at any qualified provider, each state determines which providers are qualified to participate in the state’s Medicaid program. The statute provides that a disqualified provider can challenge that decision through an administrative process. But Planned Parenthood and Edwards sued in federal court, claiming they have a right to sue directly under the Medicaid Act. The lawsuit claimed that the recipients of service should be allowed to override the state’s provider approval process and force the Medicaid program to pay disqualified providers like Planned Parenthood.
In support of South Carolina’s petition to the Supreme Court, the Independence Law Center filed a brief on behalf of Family Policy Alliance and 36 state family policy councils (like the PA Family Council) arguing that the State of South Carolina should be free to disqualify providers when funding those providers is contrary to the healthcare priorities of the state. The Independence Law Center also argued that the Fourth Circuit’s erroneous decision harms the intended beneficiary of Medicaid, low-income families.
