Planned Parenthood Applauds State’s Commitment to Title X Family Planning Services 
 

BOSTON—Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts praised the supplemental budget announced today that would provide $1.6 million for family planning services for low-income and uninsured Massachusetts residents, if the Trump Administration does not offer grant renewals for the federal family planning program known as Title X.  The current grant period ends on March 31, 2018.

Statement from Dr. Jennifer Childs-Roshak, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts:

“We applaud the Baker Administration for prioritizing Massachusetts residents, whose health and well-being have clearly been disregarded by the federal government. For months, the Trump Administration has left family planning providers in the dark about the future of Title X, and whether they will be able to keep their doors open and deliver critical services to the more than 4 million patients who rely on this program for their care. The Baker Administration’s commitment to step in with state funds if federal inaction creates gaps in care is a direct acknowledgement of the important role Title X plays in keeping people healthy and saving taxpayer money.  

“The Title X program has long ensured everyone has access to high-quality, confidential care, no matter where they live or how much money they make, and has done so with bipartisan support for decades.

Since taking office, President Trump has put politics before people, attacking access to affordable health care, and stacking his administration with anti-science, anti-contraception officials who fundamentally oppose women’s basic health care. With the Trump Administration laser-focused on using its power to control women’s bodies and lives, Massachusetts is setting an example for the rest of the country and fighting back against any attempt to infringe on basic rights.”

BACKGROUND

More than 4 million people rely on Title X, the nation’s family planning program, for their health care. Each year, 67,293 people in Massachusetts and more than 4 million people nationwide rely on the program for birth control, cancer screenings, STI testing and treatment, and other preventive care. Enacted in 1970 by President Nixon, the nation’s family planning program offers preventive health care services to those most in need. This is the only way that millions of women who have low incomes or are uninsured have access to birth control, cancer screenings, STI tests, and other basic care.

Massachusetts:

• The four Title X grantees in Massachusetts support 82 health centers across the state. The grantees are the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Action for Boston Community Development, Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts, Health Imperatives Inc., and Health Quarters Inc.
• Massachusetts’s Title X-funded health centers helped prevent 13,600 unintended pregnancies in 2014, which would likely have resulted in 6,600 unintended births and 4,900 abortions, according to the Guttmacher Institute.
• Of the 67,293 people served in Massachusetts, 87% had earned less than $29,425 a year (250% of the federal poverty line) while 59% had incomes at or below the federal poverty line of $11,770 (source: U.S. Health and Human Services)
• In Massachusetts, the services provided at publicly funded family planning centers in 2010 helped save $230,190,000 in public funds (source: Millbank Quarterly)

Nationwide:

• In 2016 alone, health centers provided nearly 700,000 Pap tests, breast exams to 1 million women, over 4 million STI and HIV tests. For 6 in 10 women who access care from a family planning health center, they consider it their main source of health care. For 4 in 10, it’s their only source of care (source: Guttmacher).
• Most people who rely on Title X-funded services are low-income and cannot afford this care on their own. In fact, 78% of Title X patients have incomes below 150% of the federal poverty level.
• Altogether, the services provided at publicly funded family planning visits in 2010 resulted in a net savings to the federal and state governments of $13.6 billion. The services provided at Title X–supported centers accounted for $7.0 billion of that total. (source: Guttmacher)
• Approximately 1.5 million Planned Parenthood patients benefit from the nation’s family planning program, 78 percent of whom live with incomes of 150 percent of the federal poverty level or less, the equivalent of $35,775 a year for a family of four in 2014.