Medicaid funding is resuming for Planned Parenthood after being cut off
for most of a year
[July 07, 2026]
By GEOFF MULVIHILL
Planned Parenthood and two smaller regional abortion providers are
resuming billing Medicaid for services other than abortion after being
cut off for most of a year.
The defunding, which was mandated in President Donald Trump's big tax
and policy law last year, has been blamed in the closure of multiple
clinics as well as a reduction in the number of Planned Parenthood
patients being screened for breast cancer or tested for sexually
transmitted infections.
The Medicaid billing was allowed to resume Sunday.
The restored funding does not mean the battle over federal abortion
policy has ended, and not all services that were cut will return.
Here's what to know about the situation.
Planned Parenthood closed clinics and saw fewer patients
Many abortion providers, including Planned Parenthood affiliates, have
struggled financially since the 2022 Supreme Court decision that
overturned Roe v. Wade and allowed state abortion bans to be enforced.
Clinics have closed in states with abortion bans and restrictions as
well as those without.
Planned Parenthood says its affiliates have closed nearly 30 of its
roughly 600 clinics over the past year, citing the funding change as a
key reason.
Over that period, affiliates dispensed about 25% fewer packs of birth
control pills and conducted about 20% fewer breast cancer exams than the
previous year.
Many patients — especially in places where healthcare can be hard to
access — may not have had care at all because of the defunding, the
organization said.
Planned Parenthood Action Fund spokesperson Angela Vasquez-Giroux said
the cuts have also led to limited abortion access in some places.
Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin halted abortions for about a month, then
dropped its status as an “essential community provider” so it could
resume seeking reimbursement. The Arizona affiliate paused offering many
of its services to patients covered by Medicaid.
Two smaller providers were also impacted
The defunding provision also impacted two other healthcare providers
that met the criteria in the law because the were nonprofit family
planning organizations that provided abortion and received more than
$800,000 yearly in Medicaid reimbursements.
Their experiences were very different.
Maine Family Planning closed three primary care clinics that served
about 1,000 patients in the largely rural state.
Evelyn Kieltyka, a senior vice president of program services, said
Monday that even with help, their former patients had to wait an average
of four to six months to be established with new providers.
[to top of second column]
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Stephen Parlato of Boulder, Colo., holds a sign that reads "Hands
Off Roe!!!" as abortion rights advocates and anti-abortion
protesters demonstrate in front of the U.S. Supreme Court,
Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik,
File)
 Meanwhile, the number of abortions
the group provided held steady, she said. Maine is one of several
states where state-funded Medicaid covers abortion.
Patients at Health Imperatives in Massachusetts may not have noticed
the change, as no services were dropped.
The state government funded Medicaid reimbursements that the federal
government stopped — something that Planned Parenthood says happened
in some form in 14 states. On top of that, the clinic system
received a grant from Melinda Gates's foundation.
Some services are returning but others may not
Planned Parenthood's Arizona affiliate has already announced
expanded hours and more telehealth options linked to the ability to
bill Medicaid again.
Some other services are not likely to be restored.
Kieltyka said Maine Family Planning isn't planning to bring back its
primary care practices again.
“When you close something down and you lose positions,” she said,
“it’s very difficult to bring that back and build it back up again.”
And Michelle Quesada, vice president of communications, brand and
marketing for the Planned Parenthood affiliate in Florida, said a
closed clinic in Lakeland isn't expected to reopen, partly out of
concern that Congress or the Trump administration could cut Medicaid
reimbursements for the organization again.
“There’s no telling with this uncertainty,” she said. “It’s like a
yo-yo effect.”
Abortion opponents want to stop the Medicaid reimbursements again
The political battle isn't over.
Abortion opponents are pushing Congress to adopt another defunding
policy.
“They've defunded Big Abortion before,” Kelsey Pritchard, a
spokesperson for Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, said Monday,
“and they should do everything in their power to do it again.”
Planned Parenthood contends that most general election voters don't
want the organization to be defunded. Pritchard said that the
Republican base does.
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