Justice Department to Join Texas Medicaid Fraud Lawsuit Against Planned Parenthood Seeking About $1.8 Billion
The U.S. Department of Justice said in a joint status report filed with a federal court on Friday night, November 6, that it will join Texas' Medicaid fraud lawsuit against Planned Parenthood and plans to file a formal motion to intervene by November 13, according to Reuters. The case is before U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk in the Amarillo Division of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.
The joint status report, filed by federal and private lawyers, states: "The United States is planning to file a motion to intervene by November 13, 2026." As of Saturday, November 7, no such motion had yet appeared on the docket. The defendants reserved all rights regarding any federal intervention.
The case began in 2021, when an anonymous whistleblower known as Alex Doe sued under the federal False Claims Act, alleging that Planned Parenthood affiliates continued to bill and collect payments from the Texas and Louisiana Medicaid programs after the states terminated their eligibility, and failed to repay the money after the terminations took effect. Then Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton intervened on the state's behalf the following year. The plaintiffs seek about $1.8 billion in Medicaid reimbursements, interest and penalties.
Planned Parenthood denies the fraud allegations. The organization has said its billing was legal because courts had paused the states' termination decisions, and that a payout of that size could force it to close. Susan Baker Manning, general counsel for the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, called the federal move "an effort by the Trump administration to shut us down." Planned Parenthood has reported annual revenue of about $2.1 billion.
The case was frozen for years. A district court ruled in October 2023 that the national federation was not entitled to attorney immunity, and the case was paused from January 2024 while Planned Parenthood appealed. On August 12, 2026, the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit dismissed that interlocutory appeal for lack of jurisdiction, returning the case to the district court. The parties have proposed a seven-day trial beginning April 13, 2027.
The federal move reverses the position taken in 2021, when the Justice Department under President Joe Biden declined to step into the case. It comes days after Texas voters chose Democrat Nathan Johnson as the state's next attorney general; Paxton lost his bid for the U.S. Senate. Johnson, who takes office in January, has said his review of the lawsuits Paxton filed during his 12-year tenure will include the Planned Parenthood case, and that he will then "take appropriate action in the interests of my state." According to the status report, Texas had intervened only on a claim that Planned Parenthood failed to repay money it owed.
(Source: U.S. Federal Court)
Source: U.S. Federal Court
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于华盛顿的美国司法部罗伯特·肯尼迪大楼（GSM固定图库）。APK 摄，CC BY 4.0。 / Photo: The Robert F. Kennedy U.S. Department of Justice Building in Washington (GSM file photo). By APK, CC BY 4.0.
