Richard H. Hughes, IV, Member of the Firm in the Health Care & Life Sciences practice, in the firm’s Washington, DC, office, was quoted in Roll Call, in “Supreme Court to Weigh Medicaid Cutoff for Planned Parenthood,” by Michael Macagnone.
Following is an excerpt:
The Supreme Court is set to hear arguments Wednesday over South Carolina’s effort to keep Planned Parenthood facilities from receiving Medicaid funding if they perform abortions, part of a dispute that could impact Congress’ ability to mandate coverage in the program.
Planned Parenthood filed a lawsuit to challenge the state’s decision that they did not qualify for Medicaid reimbursements, seeking to enforce a provision in federal law that says recipients can receive care from “any qualified provider.”
The central question for the justices is whether Congress created a right for Planned Parenthood or other groups to file such a lawsuit, which involves how explicit Congress must be if it wants to allow such a right. A ruling for Planned Parenthood would mean the group can continue to pursue its lawsuit at a lower court.
But a ruling in South Carolina’s favor would give states more power to determine the bounds of Medicaid participation, experts said, including targeting providers that provide care that is disfavored, but legal. …
Richard Hughes, a partner at the Epstein Becker Green law firm, said a decision in South Carolina’s favor could also open the door to states targeting providers for otherwise legal care, such as gender-affirming care that isn’t funded by Medicaid.
“If they’re unleashed, and they can go that far in determining that a provider is unqualified, and, by the way, for illegitimate reasons, right? That would embolden states to go after providers who deliver the services that they don’t like, absolutely,” Hughes said.
