Washington ( CNN ) -- Planned Parenthood can continue to receive Medicaid funding in Indiana , after the U.S. Supreme Court denied an appeal by the state on Tuesday . The justices let stand a lower court decision that had blocked patient reimbursement through Medicaid for health providers that perform abortions as part of overall medical care . That would include private groups like Planned Parenthood that fund its abortion care independently . Planned Parenthood said it served 85,000 patients statewide in 2011 . Of those , 5,580 received abortions , but most were given basic reproductive health care , including contraceptives and health screenings . A federal appeals court last year permanently blocked enforcement of the Indiana law , ruling that Medicaid regulations clearly give program participants the power to select their own qualified health care provider . Indiana officials asked the Supreme Court to intervene , but the justices declined without comment . Medicaid is a nationwide health program for low-income patients that is funded primarily by the federal government but administered by the states . Federal law bans Medicaid funds to pay for abortions in most instances , but Indiana 's law went further . The measure specifically blocked the Indiana Department of Health from signing contracts with any group performing abortions , with the exception of hospitals and ambulatory surgical centers . The controversial law was allowed to go into effect in 2011 by a federal judge hours after it was approved by then-Gov . Mitch Daniels . In signing the bill , Daniels and other state officials said other options existed for Medicaid patients seeking reproductive health care . But the appeals court later weighed in and reversed it . There was no immediate reaction to the high court denial from current Indiana Gov . Mike Pence . But Planned Parenthood , which bills itself as the `` nation 's leading sexual and reproductive health care provider and advocate , '' applauded the move . `` Over and over again , courts have said that states can not block people from getting preventive health care at Planned Parenthood , and the vast majority of the American public agrees , '' said Cecile Richards , president of the nonprofit 's Action Fund . The funding issue is not isolated to Indiana . Courts around the country have blocked similar laws aimed at Planned Parenthood in Arizona , Kansas , North Carolina , and Tennessee . But the group has experienced legal setbacks in Oklahoma and Texas . The high court cases are Planned Parenthood of Indiana v. Secretary of the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration ( 12-1159 ) ; and Secretary of the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration v. Planned Parenthood of Indiana ( 12-1039 ) .
Justices let stand appeals court ruling that had rejected Indiana law . Law sought to block Medicaid reimbursements if health provider also performs abortions . Planned Parenthood says only a fraction of services related to abortion . Medicaid is health care program for poor and disabled .