Maine Family Planning shutters primary care practices due to loss of Medicaid funding

Starting Friday, primary care services will no longer be available at Maine Family Planning clinics in Presque Isle, Houlton and Ellsworth after the Trump administration barred federal Medicaid funding from going to the reproductive care provider.

The organization, which operates 18 clinics across the state, typically receives about $1.9 million in Medicaid reimbursements each year. Half of Maine Family Planning’s patients, many of whom live in rural areas, rely on MaineCare, the state’s Medicaid program, to pay for health care services.

In a statement Thursday, the organization said they saw more than 600 primary care patients last year. Those patients will now need to find an alternative provider, which will likely be difficult as the state already has a shortage of primary care physicians. 

George Hill, president and CEO of Maine Family Planning, said some of the organization’s patients have been seeing their doctors and nurses for years. 

“Telling those patients we can’t see them anymore has been devastating, especially knowing that some of them will find it too difficult to get a new provider and may just forego care,” Hill said in a statement. 

According to the Rural Health Information Hub, 13 of the state’s 16 counties are considered health professional shortage areas.

Maine Family Planning will continue to provide family planning and reproductive health services, though the organization said those too could be disrupted. Medicaid funding is not used for abortion services but the Trump administration also revoked family planning funding under what’s known as Title X in April.

The shuttering of the primary care practices was initially announced earlier this month after a federal judge denied the organization’s request for a preliminary injunction to block a provision in congressional Republicans’ massive tax cut and spending law that bars Medicaid funding from going to nonprofits that provide abortion services. 

That lawsuit is ongoing and will eventually be heard in the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston. In a separate suit, Planned Parenthood, which was also impacted by the new law, was initially granted a preliminary injunction that was later reversed by the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in September. 

“While we wait for answers from the court, one thing is clear – the loss of this funding has already caused irreparable damage to our clinics and our community,” said Hill. 

Despite that, both Maine Family Planning and Planned Parenthood of Northern New England have said they will continue to treat reproductive care patients on MaineCare free of charge as long as they are able.