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Health Care

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The Big Story

Medicaid funding temporarily restored to Planned Parenthood

After a federal judge indefinitely blocked the Trump administration from enforcing a provision of the new tax cut and spending law that would cut off Medicaid funding from many Planned Parenthood affiliates, Democrats said they plan to introduce legislation that would repeal that provision entirely.

U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani on Monday expanded a decision she handed down last week in which she issued a temporary injunction restoring Medicaid for 10 Planned Parenthood affiliates.

Talwani found the law retaliated against Planned Parenthood in violation of its First Amendment rights.

“Patients are likely to suffer adverse health consequences where care is disrupted or unavailable,” Talwani wrote in the Monday ruling. “In particular, restricting Members’ ability to provide healthcare services threatens an increase in unintended pregnancies and attendant complications because of reduced access to effective contraceptives, and an increase in undiagnosed and untreated STIs.”

Separately, Democrats, spearheaded by Reps. Laura Friedman (Calif.), Nikema Williams (Ga.), Chris Pappas (N.H.) in the House and Sens. Tina Smith (Minn.) and Patty Murray (Wash.) in the Senate, plan to introduce legislation that would repeal that provision of the law.

The measure won’t advance in the GOP-controlled Congress, but it highlights how Democrats are continuing to mobilize and message around reproductive rights.

“We’re fighting to ensure people can continue getting the essential care they count on, no matter who they are or where they live,” Friedman said in a statement shared with The Hill.

Trump’s tax and spending package includes a provision that bars health care providers from being able to reimburse Medicaid for a year if they provide abortions and received more than $800,000 in federal funding in 2023.

The lawsuit challenges that provision, because there’s almost no other organization that meets the $800,000 threshold.

Talwani ruled it is “easily ascertainable” that Planned Parenthood was specifically targeted, despite the law not mentioning the organization by name.

The Trump administration already appealed a temporary restraining order that Talwani imposed just after the lawsuit was filed. But pending any action from the appeals court, Monday’s ruling will stand while the case plays out.

Taxpayer money is already prohibited from covering most abortions.

Instead, the new law cuts reimbursement for other health services provided by Planned Parenthood and other health centers, such as cancer screenings and treatment for sexually transmitted infections.

For more legal coverage, sign-up for The Hill’s courts newsletter The Gavel, written by Ella Lee and Zach Schonfeld. It publishes every Wednesday. Click here to sign up & get it in your inbox.

Welcome to The Hill’s Health Care newsletter, we’re Nathaniel Weixel, Joseph Choi and Alejandra O’Connell-Domenech — every week we follow the latest moves on how Washington impacts your health.

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Essential Reads

How policy will be impacting the health care sector this week and beyond:

Texas Attorney General Paxton sues New York county clerk over abortion ruling

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is taking legal action against a New York county clerk for refusing to file a judgment and court summons against a doctor who allegedly prescribed and mailed abortion medication to a woman in Texas. Paxton’s office has submitted a petition seeking a writ of mandamus to force Ulster County Clerk Taylor Bruck to enforce the judgment against the doctor and ensure she pays the Texas penalty, …

Full Story

Medicaid changes will hurt family caregivers, experts warn

Medicaid cuts under President Trump’s sweeping tax and spending package will harm family caregivers, experts warn, by reducing access to health care for themselves and the people they care for, which could then lead to more caregiving responsibilities. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the package will reduce Medicaid spending by roughly $911 billion over the next 10 years and increase the number of …

Full Story

Buttigieg: Approach to transgender rights ‘starts with compassion’

Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Democrats should approach transgender rights, including eligibility requirements for trans athletes, “with compassion” during an interview aired early Monday with NPR’s “Morning Edition.”

Full Story

In Other News

Branch out with a different read:

Top medical group presses RFK Jr. to keep health screening panel

A top U.S. health lobbying group is calling on Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to not dismiss a preventive care task force following a report he’s planning to remove all of its members in the same way he ousted an entire vaccine advisory board earlier this year. The American Medical Association (AMA) wrote to Kennedy on Sunday to express its “deep concern” over reporting that Kennedy …

Full Story

Around the Nation

Local and state headlines on health care:

Hundreds march in Chicago Disability Pride Parade that celebrates diversity, demands accessibility (The Chicago Tribune)
State public health departments fear looming federal cuts in Trump’s next budget (Stateline News)
State program pays student loans for health care providers (Nevada Appeal)

What We’re Reading

Health news we’ve flagged from other outlets:

AI for Medicaid work requirements: Why CHAI’s ‘tiger team’ faces an uphill task (Stat)
Women’s health care lacks funding, research, FDA chief says (Politico)
The U.S. is destroying $9.7 million in contraceptives. Is there another option? (NPR)