Supreme Court Takes Case on Planned Parenthood Medicaid Coverage

The US Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to decide if Medicaid-eligible patients can block a state program’s categorical refusal to pay health-care providers associated with Planned Parenthood.

The top court will weigh in on whether the Medicaid Act gives patients a private right of action that allows them to sue a state for violating the statute’s free-choice-of-provider section. That provision protects patients’ right to use their preferred doctors as long as they’re qualified to render the care.

This is the third time the question has come to the high court, as South Carolina officials previously asked the justices to clarify ...