Immorallity again in WA State Planned Parenthood

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Lawsuit: WA Taxpayers Defrauded by Planned Parenthood

by Joseph Backholm
Executive Director

A lawsuit against Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest alleges massive, systematic defrauding of Washington State taxpayers in reimbursements for birth control. First filed in 2011, the court documents were made public today after an announcement by the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), the attorney's for plaintiff Jonathan Bloedow. Bloedow discovered the alleged frauds through a state open records request.

The lawsuit alleges at least 25,000 false claims for reimbursement with Washington's Department of Social and Health Services and its Health and Recovery Services Administration. HRSA runs the state's Title XIX Medicaid program, with is a federal program administered by states.

According to the lawsuit, Planned Parenthood would purchase "emergency contraceptives" (Plan B) under a federal program called 340B that allows non-profit organizations to purchase medications at a subsidized rate. The 340B program exists to help the disadvantaged get access to life-saving drugs.

The lawsuit alleges, however, that Planned Parenthood was using the program to get rich. After purchasing the drugs at a reduced rate and disbursing them to clients who were members of a program called Take Charge, they would seek reimbursement for the prescription drugs from Washington State for amounts far in excess of their actual costs. Medicaid requires reimbursements to reflect the "actual acquisition cost".

Effectively, taxpayers were providing prescription drugs to Planned Parenthood at a greatly reduced rate through 340B then buying them back from Planned Parenthood at a significant markup through Medicaid. Planned Parenthood would then keep the "revenues in excess of expenses" to expand their enterprise.

The lawsuit was filed under the federal False Claims Act, which encourages individuals who become aware of misuse of tax dollars to blow the whistle. The illicit profits are estimated to be as much as $30 million.

The scheme of requesting reimbursements does not appear to be unique to Washington State. Two other lawsuits have been filed under the False Claims Act that make similar accusations in other parts of the country. See Johnson v. Planned Parenthood of Houston and Southeast Texas and Thayer v. Planned Parenthood of the Heartland.

The implications of this lawsuit for Washington State are significant because of Planned Parenthood's cozy relationship with elected officials and simultaneous disregard for taxpayers and the law.

Washington State has received an A+ rating from the abortion industry because of how extreme its abortion policy is. The state has given Planned Parenthood the unprecedented authority to accredit themselves, taxpayers in Washington routinely pay for abortion, and state law says that parents do not need to know if their minor child is going to get an abortion.

In 2011, while the state was facing a deficit of more than $5 billion and cutting social services to the mentally and physically disabled, they still found a way to increase funding for Planned Parenthood by increasing funding for Take Charge.

Nothing says "political power" like increased funding when there is a $5 billion deficit. Every one of our local school districts would have loved the same treatment.

Planned Parenthood is also one of the closest political allies of new Governor Jay Inslee, who has made the obscure Reproductive Parity Act one of his top legislative priorities because it is Planned Parenthood's top legislative priority.

Inslee's wife, Trudi, lists her work with Planned Parenthood and the National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL) on her official state bio.

Washington State gives Planned Parenthood nearly $25 million a year, and it now appears a significant portion of those funds might have been obtained fraudulently. The question is, do our elected officials care?

Of course nothing has been proven yet, and Planned Parenthood will have their chance to respond. But the accusations themselves are serious enough that they should get the attention of our state leaders, particularly in light of the fact that in 2009 Planned Parenthood in Spokane was fined more than $700,000 for overbilling the state. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice...

Gov. Inslee spent a lot of time talking about accountability and transparency in government during his campaign. We elected a state auditor, Troy Kelley, whose office exists solely to make sure that our tax dollars are not being wasted. But do they mean all those things they said about safeguarding taxpayer dollars even if it requires them to stop one of their closest political allies from defrauding taxpayers? I guess we'll find out.

The Obama Administration has recently acknowledged the opportunities for abuse with the 340B program and called for states to fix their lax oversight. We agree.

If you have thoughts about this, you could start by calling those entrusted with taking good care of your tax dollars:

Governor Inslee: 360-902-4111
Auditor Troy Kelley: 360-902-0370

You can also email your elected officials by clicking below. Once you email or call, make sure you forward this information to others you know who care about how their dollars are being used. Please be respectful, but please be heard.