Abortion giant Planned Parenthood is again under the spotlight in Texas, this time for reportedly withholding public money they should’ve paid back to the state Medicaid program.
In a lawsuit this week, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said the business received and kept roughly $10 million from the state program even though they are no longer a “qualified Texas Medicaid provider by operation of Texas law.”
“Specifically, Planned Parenthood received reimbursement from Texas Medicaid to which it was not entitled,” the lawsuit reads. “Planned Parenthood knowingly and improperly avoided its obligation to repay money owed to the Texas Medicaid program.”
“The Texas Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General removed Planned Parenthood from the Medicaid program in December 2016 and, accordingly, by February 1, 2017, Planned Parenthood was not entitled to be reimbursed from Texas Medicaid,” wrote Paxton’s office in a press release.
“From February 1, 2017, and continuing through March 2021, Planned Parenthood Defendants presented or caused to be presented thousands of claims for payment for Medicaid services, received approximately $10 million in payments from state funds for these claims, and failed to repay the money they received from these claims after they knew or should have known that they were not entitled to keep the money,” the lawsuit reads.
“Planned Parenthood took advantage of Texans, violated medical standards, & lied. While they’re no longer a TX Medicaid provider, they still collected millions for their bloody biz,” Paxton tweeted. “I’m suing to get that wrongly-syphoned money back for Texans and stand for life.”
The lawsuit seeks “disgorgement of all program monies paid to Planned Parenthood for services delivered after that date, approximately $10 million” plus fees, interest, and civil penalties that rack up every day they fail to pay back the taxpayer dollars.
“Each day since May 12, 2021, that Planned Parenthood has avoided its obligation to repay the Texas Medicaid is a separate unlawful act under the [Texas Medicaid Fraud Prevention Act],” the lawsuit says.
The suit comes amid other legal fights against the business and the overall abortion industry, particularly during Texas’ newly enacted and contentious Heartbeat Act, a state law that makes it illegal to kill a child in the womb once his or her heartbeat is detected.
