Justice Department Plans to Enter Texas' Medicaid Fraud Suit Against Planned Parenthood as Paxton Leaves
DOJ told a federal court it will intervene in the Medicaid case Texas joined in 2022, which seeks more than $1.8 billion. AG-elect Nathan Johnson says he is reviewing it.
The federal government plans to enter the Medicaid billing dispute Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton joined against Planned Parenthood, as a new state attorney general prepares to take office. The U.S. Justice Department has told a federal court it will intervene in the Medicaid fraud lawsuit that Paxton joined against the abortion provider, The Texas Tribune reported Sunday.
The move comes as Attorney General-elect Nathan Johnson prepares to take office. He has not said what he will do with the case.
What the case is about
According to the Tribune, Texas joined the lawsuit in 2022. The state accuses Planned Parenthood of improperly billing Medicaid during the period when Texas was trying to remove the organization from the program, over about $10 million in payments. The state is seeking more than $1.8 billion in reimbursement, penalties and fees, which the Tribune described as an existential threat for Planned Parenthood. These are allegations and amounts sought, not a judgment establishing liability. This report does not establish that the disputed payments funded abortions.
Both sides have jointly proposed an April 2027 trial date, the Tribune reported. U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, a Trump appointee, presides.
The Tribune said the federal intervention was first reported by The New York Times. Dock Line has not seen the Justice Department's court filing itself, so the details here are as the Tribune reported them.
What each side says
Planned Parenthood has called the lawsuit "meritless" and said Sunday it will keep fighting what it called an effort to bully it out of business. "The Trump administration has spent two years trying to shut down Planned Parenthood through legislative, administrative, and legal attacks," Susan Baker Manning, a senior vice president for Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said in a statement quoted by the Tribune. "Now, they are going to use the Department of Justice to try again."
Johnson kept his options open. "We are reviewing this action closely, including what it means for Texans and what the law allows," he said in a Sunday statement. "When I take office as Attorney General, I will take appropriate action in the interests of my state."
Paxton's office did not immediately comment, the Tribune reported.
Why the federal move matters
Johnson has already shown he will change course on some abortion litigation. He has said he will not sue out-of-state doctors who mail abortion pills to Texans; we covered that in Nathan Johnson Will Stop Suing Out-of-State Abortion Pill Doctors. Here Is What Democrats Can and Cannot Change. That makes his position on this separate Medicaid case worth watching, but it does not establish what he will do.
The reported federal move adds another consideration to Johnson's review. But a notice of intent to intervene is not a final ruling on the merits or a guarantee about how the case will proceed. Without independently reviewing the filing and applicable court orders, Dock Line will not predict the outcome or how differing state and federal positions would be resolved.
Follow the money, honestly
This is a fraud case, and it should be judged on the evidence. If Planned Parenthood billed taxpayers for money it was not entitled to, it should pay it back with the penalties the law allows, like any other provider. If it did not, it should win in court. Either way, the facts belong in front of a judge, not decided by who won an election.
Christians do not need a court ruling to know what we believe about abortion. Every child in the womb is made in the image of God, and taxpayers should not be made to fund an industry that ends those lives. But our cause is not helped by cutting corners. Truth and justice are on the same side. Let the case be tried fairly, and let the books speak.
The new attorney general has promised to act "in the interests of my state." Texans should hold him to that, and ask him plainly whether he will defend the taxpayers' claim or walk away from it.
