By PAUL J. WEBER (Associated Press)
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A federal decide in Texas who put entry to the abortion capsule misefpristone in limbo earlier this yr presided Tuesday over one other doubtlessly groundbreaking case: a state lawsuit searching for to power Planned Parenthood pay again tens of millions of {dollars} it obtained by means of Medicaid.
U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk didn’t instantly rule following a listening to within the Texas Panhandle metropolis of Amarillo, the place Planned Parenthood has no clinics.
In a quick name with reporters after the listening to, Planned Parenthood representatives mentioned they urged the decide to reject the state’s try and recoup years of Medicaid reimbursements and order steep fines that the group says may exceed greater than $1 billion.
The Texas lawyer common’s workplace, which filed the lawsuit in 2022, didn’t reply to messages left Monday, or an extra one searching for touch upon Tuesday night.
The lawsuit is believed to be the primary of its variety within the U.S. introduced towards Planned Parenthood, which over the previous decade has repeatedly gone to court docket in America’s greatest crimson state as lawmakers there have withdrawn funding and imposed restrictions on clinic operations. But in that point, the state had not beforehand taken the group to court docket over cash.
“This really is a meritless case that the judge should not let proceed,” Susan Manning, common counsel for Planned Parenthood Federation of America, instructed reporters following the listening to Tuesday.
She mentioned Kacsmaryk gave no indication on when he may rule.
The case now earlier than Kacsmaryk doesn’t encompass abortion, which has been principally banned in Texas because the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade final yr. But Planned Parenthood argues the try and recoup at the least $17 million in Medicaid funds for well being companies, together with most cancers screenings, is a brand new Republican-led effort to weaken the group after years of laws and litigation that has shrunk the state’s footprint in Texas.
At subject is cash Planned Parenthood obtained for well being companies earlier than Texas eliminated the group from the state’s Medicaid program in 2021. Texas had begun making an attempt to oust Planned Parenthood 4 years earlier and is searching for reimbursement for companies billed throughout that point.
Texas introduced the lawsuit beneath the federal False Claims Act, which permits fines for each alleged improper cost. Planned Parenthood says that might lead to a judgement in extra of $1 billion.
The lawsuit was introduced final yr by Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who’s now briefly suspended from workplace pending the result of his impeachment trial subsequent month over accusations of bribery and abuse of workplace.
Last yr, Paxton mentioned it was “unthinkable that Planned Parenthood would continue to take advantage of funding knowing they were not entitled to keep it.”
Jacob Elberg, a former federal prosecutor who specialised in well being care fraud, described Texas’ argument as weak.
He referred to as the False Claims Act the federal government’s strongest device towards well being fraud. Cases involving the legislation lately have included a well being information firm in Florida and a Montana well being clinic that submitted false asbestos claims.
Elberg mentioned it’s “hard to understand” how Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion supplier, was knowingly submitting false claims at a time when it was in court docket combating to remain in this system and Texas was nonetheless paying the reimbursements.
“This just isn’t what the False Claims Act is supposed to be about,” mentioned Elberg, college director at Seton Hall Law School’s Center for Health & Pharmaceutical Law.
Planned Parenthood has roughly three dozen well being clinics in Texas. One has closed because the Supreme Court ruling final yr that allowed Texas to ban abortion.
___ This story corrects the wording about Texas legislation to mirror that almost all abortions are banned, however not all.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”