IN Warned About Barring Planned Parenthood Funds

POLITICO reports:

Indiana plans to defy an Obama administration letter and continue barring Planned Parenthood from receiving federal funding — a move that, if continued, could cost the state more than $4 billion in Medicaid funds.

CMS Administrator Don Berwick notified Indiana Wednesday that its plan to bar the state Medicaid agency from contracting with abortion providers is illegal. If it does so, Indiana could stand to lose all federal funding of its Medicaid program, an administration source tells POLITICO.

“Medicaid programs may not exclude qualified health care providers from providing services that are funded under the program because of a provider's scope of practice,” Berwick wrote in the letter.

Berwick rejected Indiana’s proposed State Plan Amendment that would disallow contracts with abortion providers and gave the state 60 days to appeal the decision — an option that Indiana may move forward with.