Defunding Planned Parenthood will devastate Washington women’s care | Opinion

The U.S. Supreme Court decision allowing states to cut off funding to Planned Parenthood, along with the proposed federal budget defunding Planned Parenthood, will have catastrophic consequences.

There is an expectation that other providers will pick up the slack and take care of Medicaid-insured patients currently being seen by Planned Parenthood, but that is a false hope.

My medical group, the Seattle OB/GYN Group, shuttered its doors after 73 years in Seattle in part because of poor reimbursement rates, and we had already severely limited the number of Medicaid patients that we would accept because it cost us to see those patients than we received in payment.

That’s unsustainable. Physician reimbursement was not keeping up with the costs to keep our doors open. In fact, over the past 25 years, practice costs have increased by over 50%, while Medicare reimbursement decreased by 33% when adjusted for inflation.

Medicaid reimbursement rate changes have a ripple effect through the entire system, since most insurers base their rates on Medicare, and Medicaid rates are benchmarked to Medicare.

Many groups already limit or entirely exclude Medicaid-insured patients to avoid unsustainable financial losses. Expecting the medical groups who are already struggling to stay afloat to absorb large numbers of Medicaid patients is alarming.

That’s why the targeting of Planned Parenthood could do so much damage.

Planned Parenthood is the safety net for a large number of patients. They provide contraceptive counseling, screen for cervical and breast cancer, and screen for sexually transmitted diseases as well as chronic diseases.

When patients get late care or no care, the impact on their health and their communities is significant. We are already seeing this situation play out in Clark County, where very few physicians remain to take Medicaid-insured patients. It can take months for these patients to find a provider to take care of them, if they ever do.

The consequences of delaying or foregoing prenatal care can be dire. Preventable conditions like congenital syphilis, which can cause lifelong disabilities in the affected baby or stillbirth, had been eradicated in many regions through routine early screening and treatment.

These outcomes are easily preventable with treatment as simple as penicillin, yet Clark County has reported several cases in the past two years.

Without access to contraception, we would expect more unintended pregnancies. These patients are more likely to encounter delayed or absent prenatal care resulting in avoidable tragedies like

missed ultrasounds that could have identified life-threatening complications and untreated conditions like preeclampsia and premature birth. This means more subsequent ICU admissions for mothers or newborns, with long-term consequences.

Late diagnosis and treatment of gonorrhea or chlamydia can increase the risk for ectopic pregnancies which are life-threatening without emergency medical treatment or surgery.

Patients who lose coverage for preventative care of chronic diseases like diabetes and hypertension are much more likely to have adverse outcomes. Instead of preventative care, they show up in emergency departments needing hospitalization.

Research shows that accessible high-quality care not only saves lives but reduces long-term health care costs. When our patients lose access to care, they have worse outcomes which only costs our families, community and health system more.

I worry about who will take care of these patients as fewer groups accept Medicaid. As providers, our job is to ensure our patients are empowered to lead healthy lives and have access to the health care they need.

We need to ensure that patients on Medicaid have access to the care they deserve.

If you share my concern, reach out to your elected officials in Washington D.C. and let them know.

This story was originally published July 8, 2025 at 5:00 AM.