The
state of Washington has ordered a Planned Parenthood affiliate in
Spokane to reimburse about $700,000 for overbilling Medicaid.
The news is the latest in a series of events that have revealed
unscrupulous and/or illegal practices in clinics of the country's No. 1
abortion provider.
The report -- released by the pro-life weblog Abortion in Washington
(AIW) and based on an audit by the state's Department of Social and
Health Services -- showed Planned Parenthood of Inland Washington
billed Medicaid for oral contraceptives without prescriptions or with
invalid ones; overbilled for condoms; billed Medicaid for post-abortion
antibiotics under family planning, which is banned; billed office
visits to receive a prescription or an injection as a consultation with
a physician, which costs more; and billed for pregnancy tests on women
when they were unnecessary.
Planned Parenthood was told to pay back $630,000 plus interest,
according to the Aug. 9 AIW report.
The audit of Planned Parenthood, which occurred from 2004 to 2007, was
reported by the Spokane Spokesman-Review in May.
Planned Parenthood affiliates performed more than 305,000 abortions in
2007, the most recent year for which statistics are available. The
Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the national organization,
received more than $349 million in government grants and contracts
during the financial year of July 2007 to June 2008. The organization's
total revenue was $1.04 billion during that time period.
Planned Parenthood has been the target of an undercover investigation
during the last year that has shown staff members circumventing the
law. Employees at seven PPFA affiliates in five states -- Alabama,
Arizona, California, Indiana and Tennessee -- have been caught on video
seeking to cover up alleged child sexual abuse. Lila Rose, a UCLA
student, has led the hidden-camera operation by posing as a minor with
an adult boyfriend by whom she is pregnant.
In a different undercover investigation by Live Action, the
organization Rose leads, Planned Parenthood workers in seven states
were caught on audio tape agreeing to receive donations designated for
abortions of African American babies.
Contact: Tom Strode
Source: BP
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Date: August 12, 2009
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The IFRL is the largest grassroots pro-life organization in
Illinois. A non-profit organization, that serves as the state
coordinating body for local pro-life chapters representing thousands of
Illinois citizens working to restore respect for all human life in our
society. The IFRL is composed of people of different political
persuasions, various faiths and diverse economic, social and ethnic
backgrounds. Since 1973 the Illinois Federation for Right to Life has
been working to end abortion and restore legal protection to those members of the
human family who are threatened by abortion, infanticide and euthanasia. Diverse though we are, we hold one common belief - that
every human being has an inalienable right to life that is precious and must be protected. IFRL is
dedicated to restoring the right to life to the unborn, and protection
for the disabled and the elderly. Click here to learn more about the IFRL.
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