FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 4, 2017
Contact: Mallory Quigley, [email protected] 202-223-8073
5th Annual Report Shows Planned Parenthood Alone is Responsible for Millions in Potentially Fraudulent Charges
Washington, D.C. – Today Charlotte Lozier Institute (CLI) and Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) released the 5th annual report identifying waste, abuse, and potential fraud by Planned Parenthood affiliates and other abortion providers, particularly with respect to federal and state Title XIX-Medicaid reimbursements. “Profit. No Matter What: 2017 Report on Publicly Available Audits of Planned Parenthood Affiliates and State Family Planning Programs” summarizes 51 known external audits or other reviews of Planned Parenthood affiliates’ financial data and practices.
The report, authored by Catherine Glenn Foster, CLI Senior Fellow in Legal Policy, is available online here.
Some of the report’s key findings include:
- Planned Parenthood affiliates have been identified as the source of at least $12.8 million in waste, abuse, and potentially fraudulent overbilling and penalties.
- One audit uncovered $5.2 million in overbilling by two California Planned Parenthood affiliates; the average overbilled amount per audited year in a single audit was $94,409.
- Three federal audits specifically identify Planned Parenthood – and only Planned Parenthood – as the problem in state family planning program overbilling.
“Congress should do what the House of Representatives has twice voted to do: end taxpayer funding to Planned Parenthood, the nation’s most profitable abortionist, once and for all,” said ADF Senior Counsel Steven H. Aden. “Our updated report to Congress documents data from over 50 public audits that point to massive fraud, waste, and abuse by this billion-dollar abortion giant. In light of the now-established fact that nearly one in four Planned Parenthood businesses has been implicated in financial fraud or mismanagement, Congress has an opportunity—and obligation—to protect taxpayers.”
“The extent of waste and abuse in the nation’s family planning programs, and specifically in those operated by Planned Parenthood, is beyond disturbing,” said Charlotte Lozier Institute President Chuck Donovan. “This report joins earlier findings on issues of human trafficking, failure to report statutory rape, alleged violations of fetal organ trafficking laws, and other profound concerns that reinforce the need for Congress to reallocate funds to agencies that respect human life and put women first.”
Among the report’s recommendations are:
- Continue and complete investigations into PPFA and its affiliates’ and other abortion businesses’ use of federal funding and compliance with federal abortion funding limits.
- Investigate whether Planned Parenthood is double-dipping by billing Medicaid (and thus federal taxpayers) for services that other entities and individuals are already paying it to provide.
- Empower auditors and state Medicaid Fraud Control Units (MFCUs) to investigate, prosecute, and recover overbilling by PPFA, its affiliates, and other family planning businesses.
- Update state False Claims Act laws according to HHS-OIG guidelines to encourage legitimate whistleblowers to come forward.
Charlotte Lozier Institute was launched in 2011 as the education and research arm of Susan B. Anthony List. CLI is a hub for research and public policy analysis on some of the most pressing issues facing the United States and nations around the world. The Institute is named for a feminist physician known for her commitment to the sanctity of human life and equal career and educational opportunities for women.
Alliance Defending Freedom is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization that advocates for the right of people to freely live out their faith.
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