Supreme Court Rules Against Medicaid Patients’ Rights

6.26.25 (PRESS STATEMENT) — Today, the Supreme Court ruled against the rights of patients in Medina v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, a case filed by a Medicaid patient and Planned Parenthood to challenge South Carolina’s termination of Planned Parenthood from its state Medicaid program. At issue in the case was whether patients insured through Medicaid can go to court to preserve their right under the federal Medicaid Act to receive care from any qualified provider.

This ruling has the potential to open the door for widespread abuse of the Medicaid program by state officials who want to revoke funding from qualified clinics for political and ideological reasons, such as if the clinics provide birth control or LGBTQ-specific health care, or if they serve immigrant communities.

Statement from Nancy Northup, President and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights:

“Today’s decision favors extremists who’d rather let someone die of cancer than let them get a cancer screening at Planned Parenthood. The Supreme Court overrode what the Medicaid law requires and every patient wants: the ability to choose their trusted health care provider. The decision will put fuel on the fire of the multi-year campaign to deny Medicaid patients their right to see Planned Parenthood providers for contraceptives, STI testing, and other non-abortion services. Right now, Congress is seeking to replicate South Carolina’s ban nationwide, putting politics above patients in making health care decisions.”

Earlier this month, the Center for Reproductive Rights submitted an amicus brief in support of Medicaid patients’ ability to access sexual and reproductive health care from a trusted provider of their choice, including Planned Parenthood, and to exercise their right to sue when a state terminates a health care provider for reasons unrelated to competence.  

The central question in this case was whether the Supreme Court supports the rights of Medicaid patients to sue when a state blocks them from accessing health care at a qualified provider of their choice. In 2018, state officials in South Carolina attempted to remove Planned Parenthood from their Medicaid program simply because they provide abortion care alongside a range of other health services, preventing patients from receiving services such as cancer screenings, STI treatment, birth control and family planning counseling at those health centers. The federal Medicaid Act requires that states allow patients freedom of choice, which means that they must be able to obtain care from any qualified provider who undertakes to serve them. Unable to receive care from their provider, in 2018 a patient sued under the Medicaid Act to reinstate Planned Parenthood as a Medicaid provider. Over the following 6 years, an appellate court ruled to protect patients’ access to care at Planned Parenthood three times in this same case before the Supreme Court recently agreed to hear it.

This ruling comes as the United States Congress is trying to pass a funding bill which would eliminate all federal funding to Planned Parenthood on the basis that they provide abortion care with other, non-Medicaid funds.

Over 80 million people with low incomes rely on Medicaid, and they are disproportionately people facing overlapping systems of oppression—including communities of color, LGBTQ folks, people with disabilities, and women —which makes accessing the health care system even harder. Because there is already a limited pool of trusted providers who accept Medicaid patients, and patients frequently experience discrimination and mistreatment in health care settings, it is essential they can choose a provider offering high-quality care that meets their individual needs for sexual and reproductive health services.

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