Planned Parenthood Ass'n of Utah v. Dandoy

810 F.2d 984, 1987 U.S. App. LEXIS 1752
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
DecidedFebruary 5, 1987
DocketNo. 86-1880
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 810 F.2d 984 (Planned Parenthood Ass'n of Utah v. Dandoy) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Planned Parenthood Ass'n of Utah v. Dandoy, 810 F.2d 984, 1987 U.S. App. LEXIS 1752 (10th Cir. 1987).

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

This appeal concerns the expenditure of state and federal funds in the operation of the Medicaid health care program (Title XIX of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1396 et seq.) in the State of Utah. The defendant is the state official who administers this federally subsidized plan in which Utah has chosen to participate and for which the state provides a percentage of the funds. It is, of course, a broad program to provide basic medical help to per[986]*986sons who are unable to pay for such services. Title XIX provides that a “single state agency” shall administer the Medicaid program in the particular state. In this instance it is the Utah Department of Health under the direction of the defendant.

As mentioned, Medicaid provides a wide range of health services. This appeal however concerns only family planning services for minors who do not have written parental consent to receive services. Title XIX provides that such services and supplies shall include (42 U.S.C. § 1396d(a)(4)(C)):

“family planning services and supplies furnished (directly or under arrangements with others) to individuals of childbearing age (including minors who can be considered to be sexually active) who are eligible under the State plan and who desire such services and supplies.”

The defendant does not challenge the fact that family planning for sexually active minors of childbearing age is a “required Medicaid feature.” The defendant asserts however that state law prohibits the use of state funds for such purposes unless parental consent is provided.

The plaintiff, Planned Parenthood of Utah, a nonprofit organization, is a certified Medicaid provider. It gives family planning advice, services and supplies including contraceptives to Medicaid qualified persons including unmarried minors who do not provide evidence of parental consent. Plaintiff, as a Medicaid provider, submitted to defendant applications for reimbursement for its services to minors. These were refused for the reason that no written parental consent was attached.

The plaintiff brought this action after the refusál by defendant to make reimbursements for the stated reason. This was a reason described in a bulletin previously issued. More importantly or basically her refusal was also based on a Utah statute, known as Senate Bill 3, passed in 1981, which in substance prohibits the use of state funds for contraceptive services to unmarried minors without parental consent. Plaintiff sought injunctive relief to prevent future refusals to reimburse for such services to minors despite the absence of parental consent.

Cross motions for summary judgment were filed. The trial court denied defendant’s motion and entered judgment in favor of plaintiff for injunctive relief.

We are here concerned with this injunction granted against the defendant in her official position and directed to her future administration of the Medicaid program in Utah. Since the wording of the injunction ordered by the trial court is also an issue it is quoted in part as follows:

“IT IS HEREBY ORDERED, ADJUDGED AND DECREED as follows:
“1. Plaintiff’s Motion for Summary Judgment is granted, and defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment is denied.
“2. Dr. Suzanne Dandoy, Executive Director of the Utah State Department of Health, and her successors in that office, are hereby permanently enjoined from observing or acting in accordance with the Utah law known as Senate Bill 3 to the extent that it conflicts with Title XIX of the Social Security Act, so long as the State Medicaid agency continues to receive federal assistance under Title XIX of the Social Security Act. In furtherance thereof, and henceforth, defendant must reimburse all licensed Utah Medicaid providers, certified by defendant, who provide family planning services and contraceptives after the date of this judgment to eligible unmarried minor Medicaid recipients under the Utah Medicaid Program and who submit claims for those services to defendant, for so long as the Utah Medicaid agency takes federal matching funds under Title XIX of the Social Security Act.”

The trial judge in granting this injunctive relief followed the three judge decision in T_ H_ v. Jones, 425 F.Supp. 873 (D.Utah), which was affirmed by the Supreme Court without opinion on statutory grounds at 425 U.S. 986, 96 S.Ct. 2195, 48 L.Ed.2d 811. In our view, that opinion with the decision in Jane Does 1-4 v. State of Utah Dept, of Health, 776 F.2d 253 (10th Cir.), answers the basic arguments of [987]*987the defendant. There would seem to be no need to review the arguments nor discuss the opinions.

The defendant here urges that the requirement for parental consent is now in statutory form, Utah Code Ann. § 76-7-322 (Supp.1985), when it had heretofore been in a regulation, and this should lead to a different result. We find no reliance on the form in the previous cases and no persuasive reason has been advanced why the change in form should lead to a different result. The impact on those receiving the services, on the providers, and on the administration of the Act is the same. In whatever form it represents the official position of the defendant and of the state.

The defendant urges that Utah has a general parental statute which is of significance in this case. However, we agree with the trial court that Utah has no such general parental consent law and that its Health Care Malpractice Act cannot be construed to be such a law as urged by defendant. The Act was enacted after the Decision in T_H_v. Jones and it refers to damage actions in the event any health care provider does not obtain informed consent for treatment involving significant risk. (Utah Code Ann. § 78 — 14—5(l)(d).) The Act is directed to malpractice claims and to nothing else. Reference is made in the Act to parental consent but only in the context of malpractice actions.

Since the several basic arguments advanced by the defendant have been rejected by this and other courts, the defendant places emphasis on the remedy. She urges that the nature of the remedy or the injunctive order itself is defective.

The relief here ordered by the trial court is essentially the same as in Jane Does 1-4 wherein the Title X grant was specifically for family planning. Utah had accepted the grant but it refused planning services to minors without parental consent. The injunction there banned the receipt of the grant by the state so long as it continued parental consent requirements contrary to federal statutes.

In the case before us, the trial court enjoined the future refusal by the state to reimburse providers for planning services to minors in the absence of proof of parental consent. Thus the state must make the reimbursements required by federal law so long as it participates in the Medicaid program.

We see no substantial difference between the Jane Does 1-4

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Planned Parenthood Association Of Utah v. Dandoy
810 F.2d 984 (Tenth Circuit, 1987)

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Bluebook (online)
810 F.2d 984, 1987 U.S. App. LEXIS 1752, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/planned-parenthood-assn-of-utah-v-dandoy-ca10-1987.