{"id":237897,"date":"2026-07-07T22:23:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T22:23:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/237897\/"},"modified":"2026-07-07T22:23:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T22:23:09","slug":"medicaid-coverage-restored-for-planned-parenthood-keystone-patients-after-ban-ends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/237897\/","title":{"rendered":"Medicaid coverage restored for Planned Parenthood Keystone patients after ban ends"},"content":{"rendered":"

WILKES-BARRE, LUZERNE CO. (WOLF) \u2014 Across Pennsylvania, about 20,000 Medicaid <\/a>patients were unable to use their insurance at Planned Parenthood<\/a> health centers because of the federal funding restrictions, limiting access to their preferred provider.<\/p>\n

Beginning Monday, July 6, Planned Parenthood Keystone <\/a>announced that Medicaid patients can once again access care at its health centers after a federal restriction, enacted on July 4, 2025, that blocked Medicaid funding for services at Planned Parenthood facilities nationwide came to an end.<\/p>\n

Monday\u2019s change ended months of uncertainty for Planned Parenthood Keystone patients. <\/p>\n

Planned Parenthood Keystone President and CEO Melissa Reed explained how the policy affected patients and services, outlined how Medicaid funding works, and said the organization expects an increase in patients seeking STI testing and treatment.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we saw across the nation and in Pennsylvania was that meant care was delayed or people didn’t get care at all, and that was a reduction in STI testing. That was a reduction in breast cancer screenings. That was a reduction in cervical cancer screenings and a reduction in birth control. It had a significant public health impact and an impact on our patients,\u201d said Reed.<\/p>\n

\u201cFederal Medicaid only covers non abortion care. And so that encompasses birth control, STI testing, lifesaving cancer screenings. And at Planned Parenthood, we see that STI testing and treatment is a significant portion of our patient visits. Unfortunately, we are seeing a rise in STI infection rates across the state. So, I do anticipate that that will pick up quickly,\u201d said Reed.<\/p>\n

Reed said that since the ban was lifted, Planned Parenthood has already received calls from patients scheduling appointments and hopes to see even more people return for care.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are very hopeful that as our patients learn that they can once again use Planned Parenthood as their provider with their Medicaid insurance, that they will come back. Prior to the ban, 40% of our patient population used Medicaid. And since the ban was lifted and we opened on Monday morning, July 6, we were able to see them. We have had patients already calling us very excited that they get come back to us,\u201d said Reed.<\/p>\n

Reed shared that Planned Parenthood provides essential reproductive and preventive care, including birth control, STI testing and treatment, cancer screenings, wellness exams, and welcomes anyone seeking those services.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it’s really important for everyone to get regular wellness exams and cancer screenings. So, I really want to encourage folks to do that. And certainly, if they have other needs for birth control or gender affirming care or STI testing, they can rely on us for non-judgmental, compassionate care for all of their needs,\u201d said Reed.<\/p>\n

Healthcare officials said Medicaid patients are encouraged to reach out to their nearest Planned Parenthood Keystone health center for care or book an appointment online at ppkeystone.org<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WILKES-BARRE, LUZERNE CO. (WOLF) \u2014 Across Pennsylvania, about 20,000 Medicaid patients were unable to use their insurance at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":237898,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[119,121,120],"class_list":["post-237897","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-allentown","tag-allentown","tag-allentown-headlines","tag-allentown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237897","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=237897"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237897\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/237898"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=237897"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=237897"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=237897"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}