RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina Senate Republicans on Monday rolled out legislation to bar Planned Parenthood from the state’s Medicaid program.

The measure would require the state’s health and human services department to remove Planned Parenthood as a Medicaid provider, cancel any contracts with it and shift patients to other providers.

The potential change was met with opposition from several people who went to speak before lawmakers.

Senators unveiled an overhauled version of House Bill 192 during a noon appropriations committee hearing. The GOP-sponsored bill quickly moved to the Senate floor later on Monday, where it passed with all Democrats voting against it. It’s unclear whether the House will back it.

The votes came during lawmakers’ return to Raleigh, their first since late August, when the House and Senate linked up to pass a mini-budget bill.

In North Carolina, 12% of Planned Parenthood South Atlantic patients rely on Medicaid, according to the group.

Sen. Amy Galey, a Burlington Republican, presented the bill during the committee hearing. She said the General Assembly, which is led by Republicans, has in recent years worked to cut off state funds from going to Planned Parenthood but that the organization still receives some support. Galey said the bill would close “that loophole,” pointing to the One Big Beautiful Bill passed by Congress and signed into law by President Donald Trump as having aided in getting it closed.

The federal bill barred, for one year, Medicaid funding for nonprofit reproductive health providers that received more than $800,000 in federal funding in 2023 and primarily served low-income patients while offering abortions outside the exceptions of rape, incest, or life-threatening conditions.

Planned Parenthood challenged those provisions in federal court. A Massachusetts judge temporarily blocked enforcement in July, allowing reimbursements to continue. But a federal appeals court has since ruled Planned Parenthood cannot access Medicaid reimbursements while the case is pending, which could pause funding for months. Abortion services have been ineligible for federal funding since 1977, but Planned Parenthood also provides cancer screenings and other non-abortion services.

Separately, in June, the U.S. Supreme Court in Medina v. Planned Parenthood ruled that states are allowed to bar Planned Parenthood from Medicaid. That ruling cleared the way for North Carolina Republicans to pursue their own ban, even as the federal one-year cutoff remains tied up in court.

Medicaid is jointly funded by the state and federal government, with providers reimbursed for services to patients.

Complaints about access to care

Paige Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, told lawmakers during a public comment period that “this bill is about playing politics.”

“North Carolinians who depend on Medicaid will lose access to affordable reproductive health care, including access to birth control, cancer screenings and treatment for STIs,” Johnson said. “House Bill 192 simply means that cancers will go undetected, STIs will go untreated, and people will not be able to get the birth control they need to plan their families and their futures. And this will be on you.”

Galey said the bill “is not a cut to Medicaid. This is changing who is allowed to be a provider,” arguing that county health departments could step in.

Sen. Val Applewhite, who represents Cumberland County, said that her county ranks 19th nationally in sexually transmitted infection rates. She said she recently met the county’s health director, who told her “her hands are full.”

When Sen. Lisa Grafstein, a Raleigh Democrat, asked why the bill would bar Planned Parenthood from providing services such as cancer screenings, Galey said, “I think that they indoctrinate. I think that they use their money and pass it to support the general operations. Funds that come in through one door can be used to support operations that are contrary to state law.”

“Planned Parenthood is not a good-faith provider of health care services to women, and I think they should not be receiving state funds in any way, shape or form,” Galey said.

While not backing Planned Parenthood, the NC General Assembly has given direct state grants to crisis pregnancy centers which generally oppose abortion and counsel their clients about alternatives.

Over a handful of people spoke against the bill.

One of them, Michaela Barnes, urged lawmakers not to cut off Planned Parenthood.

“Medicaid does not fund abortions. Medicaid is used to give life-saving health care to those who cannot afford it. So if you take this away, I ask you, what are you going to do to make sure that health care is available to everyone?” she said.

Morgan Pixa, who lives in Durham, told lawmakers he turned to Planned Parenthood after his primary care doctor could not address an urgent medical issue quickly.

“My options were go to a hospital and go to the ER or go to Planned Parenthood,” Pixa said. “They were able to assist me in under an hour. They were kind, supportive, understanding, gave me the health care I needed — and I am male, and they were able to help me, too.”

“Removing this funding will dramatically affect everyone’s access to health care, regardless of who they are, how they were born, or what services they’re providing,” Pixa said.

Beyond the Planned Parenthood provisions, the bill also says hospitals and ambulatory surgical facilities cannot send a patient’s unpaid bill to collections unless they first provide an itemized list of charges. Patients who request a “good-faith estimate” must receive one at least three days before service, and their final bill cannot exceed that estimate by more than 5%.

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