The following Letter to the Editor was published in the Times Union, October, 2008
Contacts
Published:
Blue Carreker (518) 434-5678 x 133 blue@uhpp.org
Published:
To the Editor on the Proposed CMS Rule
September 18, 2008 To the Editor
The Times Union
News Plaza
PO 15000
Albany, NY 12212 Dear Editor: If you are concerned about the rising number of women who lack health insurance, and believe, as we do, that all women should have access to affordable, quality reproductive health care services, including comprehensive family planning services, it’s time to sit up and take notice. Unless Congress acts quickly, community based health care services are about to become even more difficult to find and afford in New York State. The Bush Administration is pushing hard to implement a new change in the way Medicaid calculates reimbursements to family planning centers and outpatient hospital clinics. Family planning providers, such as Upper Hudson Planned Parenthood, stand to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars in Medicaid funding. All together, New York’s health care providers would lose more than $450 million. Such serious cutbacks will result in a decline in services. Many low income and uninsured women would lose access to birth control, gynecological exams, cancer screenings, pregnancy testing, health education and vaccinations. The funding reductions would also devastate adult day care centers, dialysis clinics, substance abuse counseling and mental health care, and developmental disability services. We are proud of New York’s initiatives to develop a more patient-centered health care system and improve health care quality. New York State has invested in community based preventive health care because it works—and because it saves money in the long run. The proposed federal change would seriously impede those efforts – and seriously threaten the health and lives of women and families in New York State. Sincerely, Patricia A. McGeown
President/CEO
Upper Hudson Planned Parenthood, Inc.
Susan Pedo
Acting President/CEO
Family Planning Advocates of New York State, Inc.
The Times Union
News Plaza
PO 15000
Albany, NY 12212 Dear Editor: If you are concerned about the rising number of women who lack health insurance, and believe, as we do, that all women should have access to affordable, quality reproductive health care services, including comprehensive family planning services, it’s time to sit up and take notice. Unless Congress acts quickly, community based health care services are about to become even more difficult to find and afford in New York State. The Bush Administration is pushing hard to implement a new change in the way Medicaid calculates reimbursements to family planning centers and outpatient hospital clinics. Family planning providers, such as Upper Hudson Planned Parenthood, stand to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars in Medicaid funding. All together, New York’s health care providers would lose more than $450 million. Such serious cutbacks will result in a decline in services. Many low income and uninsured women would lose access to birth control, gynecological exams, cancer screenings, pregnancy testing, health education and vaccinations. The funding reductions would also devastate adult day care centers, dialysis clinics, substance abuse counseling and mental health care, and developmental disability services. We are proud of New York’s initiatives to develop a more patient-centered health care system and improve health care quality. New York State has invested in community based preventive health care because it works—and because it saves money in the long run. The proposed federal change would seriously impede those efforts – and seriously threaten the health and lives of women and families in New York State. Sincerely, Patricia A. McGeown
President/CEO
Upper Hudson Planned Parenthood, Inc.
Susan Pedo
Acting President/CEO
Family Planning Advocates of New York State, Inc.
