Appeals court allows Trump administration to block Medicaid funds to Planned Parenthood

A U.S. appeals court panel on Thursday allowed the Trump administration to block Medicaid reimbursements to Planned Parenthood while legal challenges to the policy continue, reversing a federal judge’s July order that had required clinics nationwide to keep receiving payments.

The panel’s decision pauses the district court ruling as Planned Parenthood Federation of America and two member organizations in Massachusetts and Utah pursue their lawsuit against Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The litigation challenges a provision in President Donald Trump’s signature tax legislation that directs the federal government to end Medicaid payments for one year to abortion providers that received more than $800,000 from Medicaid in 2023.

Planned Parenthood said the appeals panel’s move means more than 1.1 million patients will not be able to use their Medicaid insurance at its health centers and that as many as 200 of those centers could be at risk of closure. The organization said nearly half of its patients rely on Medicaid for services that include contraception, pregnancy testing, sexually transmitted disease testing and other reproductive and primary care.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Human Services did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The July district court ruling had sided with Planned Parenthood and its member groups, ordering that Medicaid reimbursements continue while the lawsuit proceeds. The appeals court’s temporary allowance for the administration to stop payments takes effect during the appeals process and does not constitute a final ruling on the merits of the case.

The contested provision targets providers that exceeded the $800,000 Medicaid receipts threshold in 2023 and pauses federal Medicaid payments to those entities for a year, even when the providers also deliver nonabortion health services. The lawmaker-backed policy was included in broader tax legislation championed by the White House.

Legal filings by Planned Parenthood argue that the restriction would impede access to a range of preventive and primary care services for low-income patients who rely on Medicaid. The organization’s Massachusetts affiliate president and CEO, Dominique Lee, said in a statement that the group would not back down in its challenge and framed the dispute as part of a broader fight over reproductive freedom.

The case places federal Medicaid policy and reproductive health access at the center of a high-profile legal fight. Medicaid is a joint federal-state program that provides health coverage to millions of low-income and disabled Americans; changes to federal reimbursement rules can have immediate effects on providers that serve large numbers of Medicaid beneficiaries.

What happens next will depend on further appellate proceedings. The appeals court’s administrative action preserves the administration’s ability to withhold funds while the court considers arguments from both sides. A final resolution could require additional rulings from the appeals court or ultimately the Supreme Court if the parties continue to seek review.

Planned Parenthood has described itself as the nation’s leading provider of sexual and reproductive health care and the largest provider of sex education. The organization and its affiliates contend the funding pause would force clinics to reduce services or close, affecting patients who rely on Medicaid for routine and urgent care.