�鶹Ů��

Sylvia Burwell, the U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary, will be in Dallas Tuesday to promote insurance enrollment, a visit that comes amid a raging fight over Planned Parenthood funding. Last week, state officials moved to end Medicaid contracts with the women’s health provider. (Ayala, 10/26)

Investigations into Planned Parenthood for possible Medicaid fraud were set off by a whistleblower, according to the inspector general of the state’s health agency. Inspector General Stuart Bowen sent a letter to Planned Parenthood affiliates in Texas last week informing them that their licenses to provide health care through the state’s Medicaid program were being revoked based on the content of undercover videos released by an anti-abortion group this summer and allegations of “illegal billing practices.” Planned Parenthood has until mid-November to appeal the decision. (Martin, 10/26)

Southern states, including those trying hardest to prevent Planned Parenthood from receiving other federal public health contracts, are already a virtual desert of Planned Parenthood services, according to data the women’s health organization recently provided to Congress. Nationwide, Planned Parenthood provided services for an average of 8.4 patients per 1,000 people in 2013, according to the organization’s recent report to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. In individual states, the number of patients range from a high of 26 per 1,000 residents in Vermont to less than 1 per 1,000 in Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina and West Virginia. The organization has no patients or clinics in North Dakota. (Evans, 10/26)