FACT SHEET
Defend Women’s Access to Essential
Health Care
March 2012
Congress should increase or retain funding for Reproductive Health Programs, so that
millions of Americans do not lose their source of primary and preventive health care
services. The Title X federal family planning program and Medicaid are the primary federal
sources for public reproductive health funding. In the last year, many states have taken
steps to reduce or eliminate their family planning programs, making federal funding even
more important. Proposals to reduce or eliminate these services are callous attacks on
women’s health and impede access to vital health services that millions of women, children
and families need. Congress should increase the investment in these programs to not only
provide vital health care services, but also to save significant amounts of money.
Reproductive Health Services
Funding for Reproductive Health Services
Preserves Women’s Health and Makes
Fiscal Sense
 Half of all pregnancies in the United
States are unintended; in the District of
Columbia and 29 states, the percentage
is even greater.1 Although unintended
pregnancy occurs among women of all
backgrounds, it is most common among
women who are low-income, have not
completed high school, are 18-24 years
old, are racial or ethnic minorities, or
are cohabitating.2
The expense to pay for the onemillion births resulting from
unintended pregnancy is about $11
billion annually. Without public
investment in family planning, that
cost would be $18 billion.
— Guttmacher Institute
 Recent research shows that this disparity has been growing. Poor women are five times
more likely to experience an unintended pregnancy than their more affluent
counterparts.3
 The more than 8,000 publicly funded family planning clinics in the United States serve
more than seven million women each year. For many of these women, this is their only
source of health care. One in four women who obtain contraceptive services in the
United States, including half of poor women, do so at a publicly supported family
planning center.4
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 For every public dollar invested in family planning care, nearly $4 in Medicaid
expenditures is averted. Without federally supported family planning, the rate of
unintended pregnancy would nearly double in the United States and would be nearly
two-thirds higher among poor women.5
Title X Program
The Title X Program is a Critical Source of Family Planning and Primary Health Services
 The Title X program, established in 1970, provides a broad range of family planning and
preventive health services to low-income uninsured and underinsured individuals who
would otherwise lack access to affordable health care.
 State, county and local health departments
make up the majority of the Title X service
providers and hospitals, family planning
clinics and other private non-profit
organizations make up the rest.
“No American woman should be
denied access to family planning
assistance because of her economic
condition.”
 In 2008, family planning services provided
at Title X funded clinics helped prevent
— President Richard Nixon
973,000 unintended pregnancies and
produced $3.4 billion in savings to federal
and state governments that would
otherwise be spent on pregnancy-related care.
 Anyone, regardless of income, can receive services at a Title X-funded clinic but the vast
majority of clients are low-income women who are uninsured or underinsured and do
not qualify for Medicaid. These women would be harmed the most if Title X were cut or
underfunded.
 Recent funding history for Title X:
President's
Budget
Request
FY 2013
FY 2012
FY 2011
FY 2010
$296.8 million
$327.4 million
$327.4 million
$317.5 million
Appropriated
TBD
$296.8 million
$300 million
$317.5 million
Actual*
TBD
$293.9 million
$299.4 million
$317.5 million
NATIONAL PARTNERSHIP FOR WOMEN & FAMILIES | FACT SHEET | DEFEND WOMEN’S ACCESS TO ESSENTIAL HEALTH CARE
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Medicaid
Medicaid is an Essential Source of Reproductive Care
 As the joint federal-state program financing health care for 55 million low-income
Americans, Medicaid is a vital source of reproductive health care for millions of women
who could not otherwise afford these services. In 2006, 7.3 million women of
reproductive age relied on Medicaid for their health care coverage.6
 Medicaid pays for 48 percent of births in the United States and an even higher
proportion of births (64 percent) that result from unintended pregnancies.7
 Although family planning accounts for only a small share of overall Medicaid spending,8
Medicaid is the single largest source of public funds supporting family planning
services. In 2006, 71 percent of public dollars spent on family planning services came
from Medicaid.9
Planned Parenthood
Federal Funding for Planned Parenthood Provides Health Care for Millions of Low-Income
Women
 Planned Parenthood clinics provide a critical network of safety-net health care
providers for low-income women and offer essential services through Title X and
Medicaid. For many women, particularly those in rural areas and underserved
communities, Planned Parenthood is their only source of health care.
 Planned Parenthood sees one-third of all women accessing preventive services through
the Title X program (1.6 million women per year). In some states, Planned Parenthood
is the only Title X provider and in many other states, Planned Parenthood sees the
majority of women who receive services through the Title X program.
 Support from Title X and other federal programs enables Planned Parenthood health
centers to provide, on an annual basis, nearly one million cervical cancer screenings,
830,000 breast exams, contraception to nearly 2.5 million patients, nearly four million
tests and treatments for sexually transmitted infections, including HIV, and education
programs for 1.2 million individuals.
1 Finer LB, Kost K. Unintended pregnancy rates at the state level. Perspec Sex Reprod Health 2011;43:78–87, available at http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/psrh/full/4307811.pdf.
2 Finer LB, Zolna MR. Unintended pregnancy in the United States: incidence and disparities, 2006; Contraception (2011).
3 Finer LB, Zolna MR. Unintended pregnancy in the United States: incidence and disparities, 2006; Contraception (2011).
NATIONAL PARTNERSHIP FOR WOMEN & FAMILIES | FACT SHEET | DEFEND WOMEN’S ACCESS TO ESSENTIAL HEALTH CARE
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4 Gold RB et al., Next Steps for America’s Family Planning Program: Leveraging the Potential of Medicaid and Title X in an Evolving Health Care System, New York: Guttmacher
Institute, 2009.
5 Gold RB and Sonfield A; Publicly funded contraceptive care: a proven investment; Contraception (2011).
6 Medicaid’s Role in Family Planning, Women’s Issue Brief, The Henry Kaiser Family Foundation & Guttmacher Institute (October 2007).
7 Sonfield A, Kost K, Gold RB, Finer LB. The public costs of births resulting from unintended pregnancies: national and state-level estimates. Perspec Sex Reprod Health
2011;43:94–102; available at http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/psrh/full/4309411.pdf.
8 Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, “MSIS Statistical Reports: Table 7. Medicaid Expenditures, Fiscal Year 2000, Program Type by Maintenance Assistance Status and
Basis of Eligibility, All States.”
9 Sonfield A, Alrich C and Gold RB, Public funding for family planning, sterilization and abortion services, FY 1980-2006, Occasional Report, New York: Guttmacher Institute 2008,
No. 38.
The National Partnership for Women & Families is a nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy group dedicated to promoting fairness in the workplace, access to quality health care and
policies that help women and men meet the dual demands of work and family. More information is available at www.NationalPartnership.org.
© 2012 National Partnership for Women & Families, All rights reserved.
NATIONAL PARTNERSHIP FOR WOMEN & FAMILIES | FACT SHEET | DEFEND WOMEN’S ACCESS TO ESSENTIAL HEALTH CARE
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