14. Department of Health and Human Services · Major
Issue guidance that states may defund Planned Parenthood in Medicaid
Printed page 472 14. Department of Health and Human Services
“Issue guidance reemphasizing that states are free to defund Planned Parenthood in their state Medicaid plans.”
What has happened
- Partially done
Public Law 119-21 § 71113 ("prohibited entities") barred federal Medicaid payments to Planned Parenthood and similarly situated providers for one year — Congress going further than the ask by defunding federally rather than clearing the way for States. The bar lapsed on 2026-07-03. HHS has still issued no general guidance telling States they are free to defund Planned Parenthood in their State plans.
- Partially done
The Supreme Court held in Medina v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic that Medicaid's any-qualified-provider provision, 42 U.S.C. § 1396a(a)(23)(A), does not confer individual rights enforceable under § 1983 — removing the private-suit obstacle that had blocked States from excluding Planned Parenthood from their Medicaid programs. The ask's substance was secured by the Court, not by the HHS guidance the Mandate asked for.
Research log
What was searched, and what didn’t count as evidence
Research notes
- CMS issued a letter to State Medicaid Directors on 2025-11-21 defining the statutory term “affiliate” for § 71113. It sits on medicaid.gov / cms.gov, both of which refused to open for us, so it is recorded here as a lead. It is in any case guidance about the federal bar, not about a State’s own freedom to exclude a provider.
- Litigation over § 71113 (Planned Parenthood Federation of America v. Kennedy, D. Mass.) was not traced: the federal court docket pages (CourtListener) could not be read without signing in, and its search limit had been used up at the time.
- Action
- issue
- Object
- guidance on state defunding of Planned Parenthood
- ID
- 1298