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Planned Parenthood Of wisconsin Abortion schedules resumed Monday after nearly a month’s pause due to federal reasons Medicaid Funding cuts in President Donald Trump’s tax and spending bill that took effect in early October.
Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin said it was able to resume scheduling abortions as of Monday afternoon because it no longer fits the definition of a “prohibited entity” under a new federal law that took effect this month and can receive Medicaid funds.
The organization said it had removed its designation as an “essential community provider” as defined under the Affordable Care Act. Tanya Atkinson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, said removing the designation would not change the cost of abortion or other services or affect the organization’s funding.
“At this point, in all of our research and analysis, we really shouldn’t see much impact on patient access,” she said. “If abandoning it ultimately impacts our bottom line, we have to understand what the path forward is.”
A national fight over abortion funding
Abortion funding is under attack across America, especially for affiliates of the largest provider, Planned Parenthood. The abortion landscape has been changing frequently since the US Supreme Court’s decision in 2022, which allowed states to ban abortion. Currently, with limited exceptions, 12 states do not allow it at any stage of pregnancy, and four other states ban it after about six weeks of gestation.
Planned Parenthood has warned that nearly half of its clinics providing abortions could close nationwide due to restrictions in the new federal law on Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood for services other than abortion.
Wisconsin, where abortion is legal but the Republican-controlled Legislature has passed several laws limiting access, was the only state where Planned Parenthood had stopped all abortions because of the new federal law, Atkinson said.
Because of the complexities and varieties of state abortion laws, Planned Parenthood affiliates are reacting to the new federal law in different ways, Atkinson said. For example, in Arizona, Planned Parenthood stopped accepting Medicaid but continued to provide abortions.
Impact on Wisconsin abortion clinics
In Wisconsin, a ban on abortion past 26 days means women who typically go to clinics in the southeast corner of the state will have to seek other options, including travel. chicagoWhich is within a three-hour drive of Planned Parenthood facilities.
Allied Medical Services and Care for All also provide abortions in clinics in Milwaukee.
Atkinson said that while she did so, it was “really difficult to say” how many women were affected by the disruption to services. They did not have numbers on how many women seeking abortions had to seek services elsewhere after the ban went into effect.
Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin serves about 50,000 people, and about 60% of them are covered by Medicaid, the organization said.
Atkinson said that given those numbers, the priority was on finding a way to continue receiving Medicaid funding and dropping the “essential community provider” status that Gateway provides.
The case is part of a multistate federal lawsuit challenging the provision in the Wisconsin law. A federal appeals court in September said the government could withhold payments until a court challenge against the provision proceeded.
Implications for Medicaid
Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin cited a Sept. 29 court filing on behalf of U.S. Health and Human Services that said family planning organizations could continue to bill Medicaid if they give up either their tax-exempt status or “essential community provider” designation.
The organization said that by dropping that designation, it no longer fits the definition of a “prohibited entity” under federal law and can continue to receive federal Medicaid funds. Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin is not giving up its tax-exempt status.
Planned Parenthood said the “Essential Community Provider” designation was originally given to help make it easier for organizations to be considered in-network for billing with private health insurers.
Atkinson called it a “subtle provision” of the law and she does not think leaving it in would affect Planned Parenthood’s ability to continue providing abortion and other services.
Planned Parenthood offers a wide range of services, including cancer screenings and sexually transmitted infection testing and treatment. Federal Medicaid money wasn’t already paying for abortions, but cooperatives depended on Medicaid to stay afloat. Services other than abortion are expected to expand in light of the new law.
Planned Parenthood performed 3,727 abortions in Wisconsin between Oct. 1, 2023, and Sept. 30, 2024, the group said.