PPKM Files Lawsuit Against Kansas Department of Health
For Immediate Release: May 21, 2016
May 4, 2016
Kansas City – Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri (PPKM) filed suit today in federal district court to protect Kansas women and men’s access to birth control, lifesaving cancer screenings and other preventive health services. This, after the Kansas Department of Health and Environment unlawfully terminated, at the direction of Governor Sam Brownback, PPKM’s participation in Kansas Medicaid.
“We will fight with all we have to protect Kansans’ right to choose their health care provider. For 40 years, Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri has been a qualified Medicaid provider and nothing has changed. We won’t allow extremists like Governor Brownback to make baseless accusations without consequence,” Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri President and CEO, Laura McQuade said.
Just weeks ago the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) cautioned state authorities against unsubstantiated defunding measures like this. The federal government explicitly warned states that targeting Planned Parenthood and its Medicaid contracts without cause might not be legal.
“We are going to court on behalf of our patients and the health of all Kansans. Let’s call this what it is, an attack on people who already have the least access to care. For our patients, it’s not about politics, it’s about their health care and going to the provider they know and trust. Governor Brownback has no business telling women and men where they can and cannot go for high quality health care,” McQuade said.
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Planned Parenthood is a vital resource for our community and for women and families throughout Kansas and Missouri. We are a trusted advocate and source of health care and education for thousands of women, men, and children. For 80 years, women have relied on Planned Parenthood to keep themselves and their families safe and healthy.
Source
Planned Parenthood Great Plains
Contact
Bonyen Lee-Gilmore
Sheila Kostas
Published
May 04, 2016
Updated
May 21, 2016