continue at Des Moines RegisterPlanned Parenthood of the Heartland faces a lawsuit alleging nearly $28 million in fraudulent billing and health care practices, according to documents unsealed this week.
Read the complaint from Sue Thayer against Planned Parenthood of the Heartland.
Jill June, president of the Des Moines-based organization, released a statement describing the suit as part of “a pattern of harassment against women’s health care and Planned Parenthood affiliates across the country.”
The suit alleges the nonprofit organization illegally billed Medicaid for services related to elective abortions. Elective abortions, defined as abortions in which the mother’s life is not threatened, are not covered by Medicaid under federal and state law. The document also claims Planned Parenthood “unbundled” services related to elective abortions — such as blood pressure tests, blood tests and other procedures — and billed those to Medicaid, but not the actual abortions. [money is fungible]
The lawsuit also alleges Planned Parenthood staff in Storm Lake and other clinics prescribed birth control pills for as long as 14 months without a qualified health care professional ever directly seeing patients or conducting a follow-up visit. A qualified health care professional should have seen the women at least once every three months, the suit says.
Defund. Planned. Parenthood.
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