Alliance Defense Fund Discovers 'Potential' Massive Fraud in Planned Parenthood Probe

By Stoyan Zaimov, Christian Post Reporter Tuesday, February 07, 2012

The Alliance Defense Fund released on Tuesday a report in which it lays out multiple instances of what it says is waste, abuse, and potential fraud by federally-funded Planned Parenthood affiliates across the nation.

The report, made public and submitted to Congress, highlights how no less than $95,742,982.15 of taxpayer money has allegedly been wasted by Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest pro-choice and abortion assisting organization, over a 15-year period. ADF has also partnered with Susan B. Anthony List, a nationwide network of more than 330,000 Americans dedicated to mobilizing, advancing, and representing pro-life women in politics, on the effort.

ADF describes itself as a legal alliance of Christian attorneys and like-minded organizations defending the right of people to freely live out their faith. Its mission is to employ a unique combination of strategy, training, funding, and litigation to protect and preserve religious liberty, the sanctity of life, marriage, and the family.

"Americans deserve to know if their hard-earned tax money is being funneled to groups that are misusing it," explained ADF Litigation Counsel Catherine Foster in a statement. "Planned Parenthood has to play by the same rules as everyone else. It certainly isn't entitled to a penny of public funds, especially if it is committing Medicaid fraud."

In a Data Summary document of the report, ADF identified "a total waste" of $87,875,435 by Planned Parenthood in federal family planning audits, but claims that the overbilling amount could actually come up to $98,995,919.

In a separate document based on Planned Parenthood statistics, ADF charted the organization's rapid rise from the 1973 Roe v. Wade case, which led to the legalization of abortion, to become the largest abortion provider in the nation. In 2008, out of 1,212,400 total abortions in the country, Planned Parenthood performed 324,008 of them, or 26.72 percent.

The main report listed 18 different allegedly fraudulent activities Planned Parenthood committed, including a practice referred to as "unbundling" – billing and being reimbursed by Title XIX agencies for medications and/or services provided in connection with an abortion procedure. ADF also accuses Planned Parenthood of dispensing prescription drugs, including oral contraceptives, without an authorizing order by a physician or other approved healthcare practitioner, as well as dispensing drugs to patients who have moved or have not been seen by the clinic for more than a year.

Other highlights of the report reveal that of the 38 federal family planning audits covering federal funding streams in 19 states, two audits, in New Jersey and New York, specifically identified Planned Parenthood, and only Planned Parenthood, as a source of overbilling in the family planning programs. The combined alleged waste in these two audits alone was $1,516,312.

The document states, "All told, extensive waste, abuse, and potential fraud have been identified to date in 9 percent of Planned Parenthood's 79 U.S. affiliates. Two others, one in Texas and one in California, are the subject of federal whistleblower lawsuits by former Planned Parenthood employees alleging fraud.

"In our experience, based on the publicly available audits summarized herein and confirmed by our confidential sources, Planned Parenthood's primary motivation is to take advantage of 'overbilling' opportunities to maximize its revenues in complex, well-funded federal and state programs that are understaffed and rely on the integrity of the provider for program compliance.

"Thus, Planned Parenthood's primary motivation appears not to be to provide quality healthcare to patients who seek family planning services, but rather to enhance its profits."

The Alliance Defense Fund's report follows news that Karen Handel, vice president for public policy at the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation, resigned following the organization's decision to continue funding Planned Parenthood.

The Komen foundation sparked a national debate last week when it announced that it adopted new grant criteria barring funding to organizations that are under investigation by local, state or federal authorities. Planned Parenthood has been the focus of a congressional investigations for possible misuse of taxpayer funds, and the ADF report submitted to Congress is certain to add more fuel to the fire.