Montanans can no longer use Medicaid to pay for health care services at the four Planned Parenthood clinics in the state after a federal provision went into effect barring public dollars from being used at certain providers that also offer abortion.

The result is that many patients who have relied on the facilities for primary care, cancer screenings and reproductive health treatment are being told to go elsewhere for services or pay out of pocket. About a third of the 10,000 annual patients at Planned Parenthood clinics in Montana are covered by Medicaid, the joint state-federal health insurance program for low income earners, people with disabilities and pregnant women.

“A lot of our patients have expressed real confusion, frustration, sadness, disappointment,” said Samuel Dickman, the

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