NC Medicaid patients face loss of Planned Parenthood care after court ruling

Following a federal court ruling, Planned Parenthood will not be able to receive Medicaid reimbursements, at least for now. That affects patients nationwide, including in North Carolina.

In North Carolina, 12% of Planned Parenthood South Atlantic patients rely on Medicaid, according to the group.

The organization will not be reimbursed for Medicaid patients’ care, even for non-abortion services such as birth control, testing and treatment of sexually transmitted infections, and cancer screenings. Patients would need to pay out of pocket unless they have other coverage. Abortion services have been ineligible for federal funding since 1977.

Planned Parenthood said in a news release that more than 1.1 million people could be blocked from using Medicaid insurance at its health centers nationwide.

After Congress passed the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” Planned Parenthood filed a lawsuit in Massachusetts challenging provisions that cut off Medicaid funds for one year.

A federal judge in late July blocked enforcement, allowing reimbursements to continue.

But on Thursday, a federal appeals court ruled Planned Parenthood cannot access Medicaid reimbursements while the case is pending. The ruling is not final but could pause funding for months.

“Never before has a qualified health care provider been kicked out of the Medicaid program purely for political reasons,” said Paige Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, in a news release.

“President Trump and his followers in Congress have callously taken away essential, preventive health care from millions of Americans and stripped them of their right to go to the provider of their choice, all in service to tax cuts for corporations and to advance an extreme, anti-abortion political agenda.,” Johnson said. “Cancers will go undetected, STIs will go untreated, and people will continue to struggle to get basic, affordable health care. It is an abject cruelty that cannot be overstated, and many people don’t yet know that it’s happening to them.”

The suit named Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., as well as HHS, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz, and CMS.

HHS did not immediately reply to a request for comment. But a spokesperson for the department, Andrew Nixon, said in July that “States should not be forced to fund organizations that have chosen political advocacy over patient care,” the New York Times reported.

Planned Parenthood has an action fund that works nationally, with local chapters and political organizations, to “defend sexual and reproductive health and rights, including abortion access, in states across the country,” according to its website.

Katherine Farris, the organization’s chief medical officer, said in the release that Planned Parenthood South Atlantic was working to ensure care continues for those on Medicaid, including transitioning them to a new provider or working with them to examine their financial options.

“But we live in a region where there already aren’t enough community health care providers, especially for people who rely on Medicaid, and many people will simply not be able to get the health care they need. We will continue to hold our doors wide open for the people who depend on us, and we will never stop fighting to provide quality, compassionate care to our patients — no matter what,” she said.

The law, signed by President Donald Trump, barred one year of Medicaid funding for nonprofit reproductive health providers that received more than $800,000 in federal funding in 2023 and primarily served low-income and medically underserved patients and offered “abortions in cases other than that of rape, incest, or life-threatening conditions for the woman.”

This story was originally published September 12, 2025 at 1:38 PM.

Luciana Perez Uribe Guinassi

The News & Observer

Luciana Perez Uribe Guinassi is a politics reporter for the News & Observer. She reports on health care, including mental health and Medicaid expansion, hurricane recovery efforts and lobbying. Luciana previously worked as a Roy W. Howard Fellow at Searchlight New Mexico, an investigative news organization.