At Planned Parenthood clinics across Massachusetts, front desk staff have been swamped with questions about coverage and costs since President Trump signed legislation that cuts off Medicaid payments to health care providers offering abortion services.
Doctors and nurses at the clinics are hearing from patients worried they’ll be unable to keep seeing their providers. Even clinic escorts, who accompany people past antiabortion protesters, are getting asked by patients whether they’ll be able to continue seeing their regular doctor.
Uncertainty and confusion around Planned Parenthood, its funding, and its future are not only creating anxiety among patients covered by Medicaid, but also leading some to skip care, Planned Parenthood officials said. On a recent Tuesday, for example, only half the patients scheduled for appointments at the Planned Parenthood health center in Springfield showed up.
“I’ve been here for almost 10 years now,” said Anne McGovern, chief operating officer of the Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts, “and this is easily the hardest thing we’ve had to deal with.”
For the time being, Planned Parenthood of Massachusetts is offering free care to Medicaid patients as legal challenges to the funding cuts move through the courts. Last week, a federal judge in Massachusetts issued a preliminary injunction blocking the Trump administration from withholding Medicaid payments to Planned Parenthood clinics that don’t provide abortions or receive less than $800,000 from the government insurance program.
The ruling, however, doesn’t help Planned Parenthood of Massachusetts, which last year billed Medicaid for $14 million, or roughly half of the health care provider’s operating budget. About 40 percent of the patients at Massachusetts clinics are insured by Medicaid, according to Planned Parenthood.
The state earmarked $2 million for the Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts in the fiscal 2026 budget, but that is still only a fraction of the cuts. It’s unclear how long the organization can provide free care to patients covered by Medicaid.
“This is the first time that something is really shaking our foundation,” said Dr. Luu Ireland, chief medical officer of the Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts.
Most patients at Massachusetts’ Planned Parenthood locations — in Boston, Worcester, Marlborough, and Springfield — are not seeking abortions, but rather primary care such as annual check-ups and testing for sexually transmitted diseases.
Recently, Ireland said a teenager came in with her mother to get birth control for the first time. Birth control, Ireland noted, “is trial and error,” and patients might need to try several brands of the medication before finding the right prescription.
Because the teen is insured by the state’s Medicaid program, called MassHealth, Ireland couldn’t promise her that she would be able to come back to Planned Parenthood for follow-up visits.
Another MassHealth patient who has come to Planned Parenthood for years for STD testing was “at a loss” when Ireland told him about changing policies.
“Where am I going to go to get tested?” Ireland recalled him asking. “What if I need treatment? How much will that cost?”
The Massachusetts Planned Parenthood offices are typically able to get patients into the office within seven days, which is much faster than other gynecology and primary care providers in the region. Research by ECG Management Consultants in 2024 found that, on average, new patients in the Boston metro area had to wait 85 days for an obstetrics and gynecology appointment.
Many of the patients who go to Planned Parenthood for routine care have seen the same providers for years. Shaking up that care can be jarring, said Irem Girmen, who leads the team that answers patient questions at the Boston clinic.
“They like coming here. They prefer to come here,” said Girmen. “Gynecological exams are vulnerable, and they trust us.”
MassHealth patients seeking abortion care are not affected by the changes in federal law. States have long been prohibited from using federal Medicaid money to cover abortions, but Massachusetts uses its own funds to cover abortion care for patients insured by MassHealth.
While the organization is seeking alternative funding options, Ireland said, Planned Parenthood’s top priority remains getting patients in the door so medical care goes uninterrupted.
“We are providing care and we are absorbing the cost of that health care,” Ireland said. “That is our temporary plan for now to ensure that our patients suffer as little as possible during this transition.”
Marin Wolf can be reached at marin.wolf@globe.com.