A lawsuit has been filed in Massachusetts Superior Court for Suffolk County on behalf of taxpayers who want Massachusetts Medicaid (“MassHealth”) to stop paying for infant circumcisions. Peter Adler and Ronald Goldman, Ph.D. filed the suit. The lawsuit claims that pertinent federal and state regulations require that all services paid for by Medicaid be medically necessary and that infant circumcision is not medically necessary.

The Massachusetts Medicaid office currently pays for elective, non-therapeutic male infant circumcisions. According to Massachusetts General Laws, state officials can be sued to have the court order them to comply with the law. Dr. Goldman said, “Finally, we are going to hold officials accountable for their abuse of taxpayers’ funds and reduce the rate of this harmful practice.” Approximately 10,000 Medicaid circumcisions occur each year in Massachusetts, at a cost to taxpayers of 17.5 million dollars per year.

For more information, see Ronald Goldman’s announcement here.