Texas to ban abortion providers from Medicaid program

Starting March 14, Texas will exclude organizations that provide abortions from a women's family planning program, according to a decision by Texas Health and Human Services Executive Commissioner Tom Suehs. The state's Medicaid agency is defying a December 2011 denial by the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services of Texas' request to keep abortion providers out of the program.

The Medicaid Women's Health Program, funded in part by the federal government, provides birth control services, Pap smears and family planning counseling based on natural methods to more than 180,000 lower-income women. Single women who earn as much as $20,148 a year are eligible for the program. Texas' defiance of the CMS order could endanger the federal matching funds that help pay for the services.

The Texas Health and Human Services Commission is obligated to follow state laws, said commission spokeswoman Stephanie Goodman. "We have a state law that our attorney general says is constitutional, and it bans abortion providers from taking part in the women's health program. We can't violate a valid state law just to please Washington. We hope CMS will reverse its position and allow the program to continue."

However, federal law prohibits states from excluding health care entities from Medicaid programs for reasons not related to their qualifications to provide services, according to a Dec. 12, 2011, letter from CMS Deputy Administrator Cindy Mann to Texas' Medicaid agency. Goodman said certain federal court decisions have allowed states to exclude health entities from their Medicaid programs for any reason.

More information about the Texas women's health program is available online (link).

Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2012/03/05/gvbf0305.htm.