Do No Harm calls for federal inquiry into Planned Parenthood miscoding claim

The nonprofit group Do No Harm has asked the Health and Human Services inspector general to investigate Planned Parenthood over allegations of miscoding medical visits. In a letter sent Sept. 22, the group claimed that Planned Parenthood and its affiliates may be coding visits to make hormone prescriptions for youth appear as routine procedures.

Do No Harm alleges this practice could obscure services related to gender dysphoria and allow private and government insurers, such as Medicare, Medicaid, and TRICARE, to cover treatments that might otherwise be excluded. The group stated that because these insurers only reimburse for medically necessary treatments, the alleged miscoding is used to obtain illegal reimbursement for lucrative procedures.

The letter asserts that the evidence regarding the safety or effectiveness of these hormone treatments for addressing gender dysphoria is of low to very low quality. Do No Harm also claimed that some Planned Parenthood affiliates and the World Professional Association for Transgender Health have publicly discussed using strategic coding practices.