Defund Planned Parenthood & Cost Transparency
Plain English Summary
This bill has two main parts: it prohibits Planned Parenthood from participating in North Carolina's Medicaid program, and it establishes new billing transparency and collections practices for hospitals and ambulatory surgical facilities. The billing provisions require hospitals to provide itemized cost estimates for scheduled services, limit final bills to within 5% of the estimate, and prohibit sending bills to collections without first providing an itemized breakdown.
Arguments in Favor
Supporters argue this bill aligns North Carolina with federal policy and the Supreme Court ruling allowing states to exclude Planned Parenthood from Medicaid, ensuring taxpayer funds are used in accordance with their values regarding abortion. On the billing side, supporters contend that requiring cost transparency and estimates helps patients make informed medical decisions and protects them from unexpected hospital bills, addressing a major source of medical debt and financial hardship.
Arguments Against
Opponents argue that defunding Planned Parenthood limits access to healthcare services like cancer screenings, contraception, and STI testing for low-income North Carolinians who rely on Medicaid, and that the organization uses Medicaid funding only for non-abortion services. Critics of the billing provisions worry that 5% price caps may burden hospitals financially, potentially reducing services or quality of care, and that the good-faith estimate requirements create administrative costs that could be passed to patients or insurance companies.
AI-generated analysis based on bill text. Always verify with official sources at ncleg.gov. This is not legal or political advice.
Sponsors
Primary Sponsor
Representative · District 37
Primary Sponsor
Representative · District 105
Primary Sponsor
Representative · District 35
Primary Sponsor
Representative · District 75
Cosponsors (30)
Representative · District 52
Representative · District 53
Representative · District 70
Representative · District 95
Representative · District 19
Representative · District 43
Representative · District 48
Representative · District 6
Representative · District 5
Representative · District 106
Representative · District 26
Representative · District 23
Representative · District 45
Representative · District 62
Representative · District 15
Representative · District 63
Representative · District 86
Representative · District 44
Representative · District 109
Representative · District 59
Representative · District 68
Representative · District 47
Representative · District 25
Representative · District 66
Representative · District 9
Representative · District 97
Representative · District 80
Representative · District 113
Representative · District 60
Representative · District 73
Vote Breakdown (2 roll calls)
Final Vote
On: Second Reading
Party Breakdown