WASHINGTON: The U.S. Department of Justice has joined a major lawsuit against Planned Parenthood, increasing legal and financial pressure on the health care organization over allegations that it improperly collected millions of dollars in Medicaid payments after Texas and Louisiana moved to remove it from their state health care programs.
The federal government's decision to intervene brings the Justice Department directly into a whistleblower lawsuit originally filed by Texas under the federal False Claims Act.
The case accuses Planned Parenthood of continuing to submit Medicaid reimbursement claims after state officials attempted to terminate its participation in the programs.
Texas and federal officials are seeking to recover millions of dollars in disputed payments, along with additional penalties that could push the total financial claims to approximately $1.8 billion.
The lawsuit centers on payments that Planned Parenthood allegedly received from Medicaid programs in Texas and Louisiana during a period when both states were attempting to remove the organization from their provider networks.
According to the plaintiffs, the organization should not have continued billing the government after its removal decisions took effect. They argue that submitting those claims violated federal law and amounted to Medicaid fraud.
Planned Parenthood has strongly rejected the allegations, describing the lawsuit as a politically motivated attempt to target the health care provider.
The organization argues that its Medicaid billing was legally permitted because federal court orders had temporarily blocked or delayed the states' decisions to remove it from their programs.
The Justice Department's move follows years of legal disputes that kept the case largely on hold. The lawsuit had been paused for nearly three years while courts considered whether Planned Parenthood's national organization could claim immunity from liability.
In August, the full U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously ruled that the organization could not immediately appeal an earlier decision denying its immunity claim. The ruling cleared the way for the litigation to move forward.
The case dates back to 2021, when an anonymous whistleblower and Texas brought the lawsuit against Planned Parenthood. It is being handled by U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk in Texas.
Planned Parenthood has warned that losing the case could force it to shut down its operations in Texas because of the potentially massive financial penalties.
The Justice Department's intervention marks a significant development in the long-running legal battle, bringing federal authorities directly into a case that could have major financial consequences for the health care organization.
