Augusta, ME – Due to a new federal law that bans many health providers who provide abortion care from billing Medicaid for reimbursement, Maine Family Planning (MFP) has informed its hundreds of primary care patients that it must close its primary care practice, effective October 31, 2025.
Earlier this summer, Congress rescinded MFP’s Medicaid funding through President Trump’s budget reconciliation bill. This defunding provision targets abortion care providers, even though no federal Medicaid funds are used for abortion services. Regardless of patients’ insurance status and despite the fact that we provide these patients with primary care that is unrelated to family planning services, MFP has been stripped of its roughly $2 million in annual Medicaid reimbursement.
Because MFP’s primary care practice was modeled to serve Medicaid patients, without Medicaid funds, MFP is no longer able to sustain its vital primary care practice. Over the next 30 days, MFP will work with patients to help identify other primary care providers in the region that are accepting new patients. MFP will continue seeing patients who need family planning care, regardless of insurance status, for as long as we are able.
“Congress’ defunding provision has had an immediate, devastating impact on the core of who we are and what we do,” said George Hill, President and CEO of Maine Family Planning. “The cruel and dangerous law has put us in an impossible situation. Discharging and turning away vulnerable patients strikes at the very heart of MFP’s reputation as a trusted community provider that has been able to serve patients of any means for more than 50 years.”
In July, the Center for Reproductive Rights filed a lawsuit on behalf of MFP, Maine Family Planning v. HHS, in response to its exclusion from the Medicaid program. The case argues the federal Constitution’s Equal Protection guarantee and asks the courts to reinstate MFP’s ability to receive Medicaid reimbursements for essential health care, including birth control, STI testing, cancer screenings, routine OBGYN visits, and primary care. In August, the District Court rejected MFP’s motion for a preliminary injunction.
“In pursuing this lawsuit, MFP is sending a clear message that we refuse to compromise the services we offer to our patients,” said Hill. “We offer life-changing care, life-saving care, and we’re not giving up on our patients without a fight.”
In September, MFP filed a further request that the First Circuit Court of Appeals rule on its motion for a preliminary injunction pending appeal by September 30. No response was received and we are now in the process of notifying our primary care patients that they are being discharged from our practices and helping them make alternative arrangements.
Around 8,000 patients made more than 15,000 visits to Maine Family Planning’s 18 clinics and mobile medical unit in 2024, and tens of thousands of additional patients received care through MFP’s subcontracts at other clinics across the state. Many of MFP’s clinics provide care in very rural areas of the state where there are no other health care providers. In fact, around 70% of their patients rely exclusively on MFP and will not see any other health care provider in a given year.
