Planned Parenthood may face a major fiscal cliff next year as Republicans move ahead with Obamacare repeal.
If the GOP-led Congress recycles a 2015 measure to repeal large portions of the Affordable Care Act, the women’s health and abortion provider could lose about 30 percent of its revenue, as the bill also blocks the nationwide chain of clinics from collecting Medicaid reimbursements.
Republicans appear unwilling to remove that provision. The issue appeals to their base, and they’ve spent the past year-and-a-half going after the organization after undercover footage showed how some of its clinics supplied aborted fetal tissue for research.
“We’ve already shown what we believe with respect to funding Planned Parenthood,” House Speaker Paul Ryan told reporters before Congress left town for the Thanksgiving recess. “We put a bill on Obama’s desk in reconciliation. Our position has not changed.”
That reconciliation bill is the legislative vehicle Republicans used last year to try to repeal President Obama’s healthcare law. In order to pass the bill in the Senate without help from any Democrats, Republicans used special budget reconciliation rules allowing them to sidestep the usual 60-vote requirement.
In the process, they tacked on language that would effectively block Planned Parenthood from receiving reimbursement for health services provided to low-income Medicaid patients.
Medicaid doesn’t pay for abortions, except in cases of rape, incest or if the woman’s life is endangered, but many Republicans still say the dollars shouldn’t go to any provider who offers abortion services.
As lawmakers return to Washington for a few more weeks of the lame-duck session, Republicans will continue discussions of how to repeal and replace the healthcare law they so dislike once President-elect Trump takes office in January.
Some groups to the right, chiefly the Heritage Foundation, are pressuring Republicans to take a stab at fully repealing the healthcare law through reconciliation, something most Hill aides feel can’t be done under the criteria of what can go into a reconciliation bill.
But social conservatives privately fear that if Congress takes another pass at reconciliation, the section that defunds Planned Parenthood might not make it. And that’s one of their biggest priorities now that they’ll have a president who says he opposes abortion.
The Susan B. Anthony List, a prominent anti-abortion group, emailed Republican lawmakers and staff this month, urging them to pass last year’s reconciliation bill with Planned Parenthood defunding included.
“We need to deliver an immediate victory for the unborn and the pro-life grassroots, and defunding abortion businesses such as Planned Parenthood of their Medicaid funding … through reconciliation is our best bet,” wrote Eric Schmitz, SBA List’s legislative director.
The Family Research Council has also sent letters to lawmakers asking them to defund Planned Parenthood in an Obamacare repeal bill.
“The pro-life community stands united in its desire to see legislation signed into law to stop funding for abortion providers,” wrote FRC President Tony Perkins.
The measure wouldn’t strip all taxpayer dollars from Planned Parenthood. The provider would still be reimbursed from Title X family planning funds, which is about $60 million annually.
“It’s not 100 percent defunding, but it’s a beautiful start,” said Tom McClusky, vice president for government affairs at March for Life.
Planned Parenthood receives 43 percent of its revenue from government reimbursements, 27 percent from private donations, 24 percent from health service fees and 6 percent from “other.”
Private donations have ticked up dramatically for the group since Trump’s victory, and President Cecile Richards has been making fundraising pitches with warnings that Congress is preparing to go after her group like never before.
“For 100 years, Planned Parenthood has stood with and for our patients, and through every challenge we got stronger because you stood with us,” Richards wrote in a recent fundraising email. “The coming months will be no exception.”
