Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell submitted the brief while, Attorneys General from Michigan, California, Colorado, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawai’i, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Washington joined the coalition.
Lansing, Michigan – Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has taken a definitive stand alongside a group of 17 attorneys general, filing an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court. Emphasizing the case’s importance for provider choice including organizations like Planned Parenthood, this legal statement supports the continuation of Medicaid recipients’ rights to freely choose their healthcare providers.
This legal dispute started in 2018 when South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster signed an executive order trying to eliminate from the Medicaid provider list groups offering abortion services, including Planned Parenthood.
A Medicaid beneficiary from South Carolina filed a legal challenge in response to this action, and a district judge decided against the state’s decision. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit later upheld the decision in March 2024, confirming that under the Medicaid Act patients retain their freedom to choose their healthcare providers, independent of gubernatorial directives.
Especially for people living in rural and underprivileged areas, Attorney General Nessel underlined the value of this right.
“The ability to choose healthcare providers is essential for maintaining access to care and protecting reproductive rights, especially for Medicaid recipients in rural and underserved communities,” Attorney General Nessel said.
She attacked the political motivated decision on excluding Planned Parenthood which negatively impacts public health by limiting access to necessary preventative treatments and services.
Also weighing in on the issue was Paige Johnson, interim CEO and president of Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, who denounced the politicizing of healthcare access. She emphasized the wide range of basic health services Planned Parenthood offers—cancer screenings, birth control, STIs and treatment included.
“Make no mistake: every person should be able to access health care from a provider they trust — no matter their income or insurance status,” Johnson said.
The amicus brief of the coalition also contends that patients’ access to a wide spectrum of medical professionals determines Medicaid’s efficacy. This includes specialists focused in reproductive health, who not only provide abortion treatment but also essential services like birth control and sexually transmitted infections screenings, especially significant for historically underinsured groups.
The brief emphasizes that although states have considerable autonomy in running Medicaid programs, there are important protections like free choice of provider provision. This law is meant to prevent state governments from restricting Medicaid consumers to a limited selection of healthcare providers, therefore safeguarding the personal healthcare choices from governmental overreach.
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Lead by Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell and joined by attorneys general from states including California, New York, and Washington, the case marks a turning point in the continuous discussion over government intervention in healthcare access. As the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to hear the case on April 2, the outcome will potentially reaffirm the legislative intent to safeguard individual healthcare freedoms against restrictive state policies.