Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains will start seeing Medicaid patients again after canceling hundreds of appointments over the past two weeks when the federal budget bill blocked Medicaid spending at the abortion provider.
Planned Parenthood won a temporary restraining order that allowed it to begin scheduling patients Thursday for recipients of the federal-state government insurance program. It is seeking a permanent injunction in court.
The temporary injunction expires Monday, so the status of appointments for Medicaid patients beyond Monday is unclear.
“We are relieved to once again open our doors to Medicaid patients — but this is only a temporary fix,” Adrienne Mansanares, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains, said in a news release Thursday.
The organization’s call center has been flooded with calls from “desperate voices,” she said. Up to 14,000 Coloradans who have Medicaid receive care from Planned Parenthood each year.
About 990 appointments were canceled because of the federal funding block.
Those patients could not choose to pay out of pocket for their appointments because of a 2006 state law, intended to protect patients, that prevents providers from accepting alternate forms of payment from Medicaid recipients.
The plan is to care for as many patients as possible until the next court ruling, when Planned Parenthood hopes to win a permanent injunction. The organization is also working with the state Medicaid division to create a long-term solution.
“In rural parts of our state, many people rely on Planned Parenthood, not just for sexual and reproductive health care, but also as their primary care provider,” said Fawn Bolak, Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountain’s communications director. “We are determined to care for as many Medicaid patients as we can, until federal law no longer allows us to do so.”
Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains has 18 health centers in Colorado and New Mexico. It offers not only abortion care, but birth control, cancer screenings, sexually transmitted disease testing and treatment and gender-affirming care.
The federal budget bill, called the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, blocks Medicaid payments for one year to nonprofits that provide abortions beyond cases of rape, incest and life-threatening situations and had previously received at least $800,000 in annual federal funding. President Donald Trump signed the bill July 4.
In the past, federal money could not pay for abortions but for other reproductive health care.
“We know how frustrating and destabilizing it is for our communities to see Medicaid access expand one day and contract the next,” Mansanares said. “It’s a rollercoaster no patient or provider should have to endure. But when those windows of opportunity open, we are committed to showing up and providing care for as many Medicaid patients as we can, for as long as possible.”