Defunding Planned Parenthood Breaks America’s Healthcare System
By Peter Gachui
Most Planned Parenthood funds come from the federal government through Medicaid (a health care program tailored towards lower-income Americans) and Title X (a governmental program on family planning). A patient must qualify for a publicly funded health care program or Medicaid coverage to enjoy Planned Parenthood funded services. Estimates state that roughly 1.5 million out of 4 million American patients benefit from Planned Parenthood funds annually. Many of these patients lose access to the better health care they require if Planned Parenthood loses funding.
Despite this, the U.S. Senate passed a bill on March 30 that no longer protects federal funding for abortion-providing agencies like Planned Parenthood. This piece of legislation gives individual states the right to decide how much government funding these health care organizations receive. The vote tied at 50–50, with the final tie-breaker cast by Vice President Mike Pence in favor of the bill. Because the act passed, the future of Planned Parenthood and the care it will be able to provide is called into question.
The following is an illustration of how Planned Parenthood looks like or works.
Based on this illustration, legislation tailored towards defunding Planned Parenthood blocks Medicaid-covered patients from accessing primary healthcare. This would lead to overwhelming consequences for millions of patients. Especially those with low incomes and those from rural populations who are already facing barriers to better health care.
Some Facts About Planned Parenthood Healthcare:
About one-third of all women in need of publicly funded birth control live in areas where Planned Parenthood is the primary safety-net health care provider.
- More than half of Planned Parenthood health centers serve rural and underserved communities.
- In 68% of areas with Planned Parenthood health centers, Planned Parenthood serves at least half of all safety-net family planning patients.
- In 21% of areas with a Planned Parenthood health center, Planned Parenthood is the only safety-net family planning provider.
- Six in every 10 women who access care from family planning health centers like Planned Parenthood consider it their main healthcare source.
- In the year 2010, Planned Parenthood served 2.2 times as many women in need of birth control service as federally qualified health center (FQHCs), even though FQHCs outnumbered Planned Parenthood health centers by nearly 4–1.
Therefore, without Planned Parenthood health care services, many, especially women, would have nowhere else to go for their healthcare services.
Planned Parenthood Funding
According to National Public Radio (NPR), last year Planned Parenthood received about $550 million annually from the federal government. This translates to about 40% percent of the overall $1.3 billion Planned Parenthood gets in annual revenue. Based on this statistic, it is evident that the organization faces huge financial problems if they lose federal funding.
The statistics show that the federal government is the main source of Planned Parenthood revenue. Some of the main services catered for by these funds include testing and treating STIs/STDs (42%), contraception (34%), other women’s health services (11%), cancer screening (9%), abortion services (3%), and other services (1%).
According to Hyde Amendment Bill of 2013, federal funds are not for abortion services. The exception is in severe cases such as incest, rape cases, or protecting the life of a mother. However, there are a number of states that have expanded these cases in which they offer funds. Currently, about 17 states allow use of federal governmental funds for “medically necessary” abortions.
Consequences of Defunding Planned Parenthood
The primary victims of defunding Planned Parenthood services will be women. Especially those in the reproductive age bracket in the U.S. According to the Congressional Budget Office(CBO), about 17% of all women between 19–65 had coverage from Medicaid as of 2016. Additionally, one-third of all women in need of publicly funded healthcare come from areas where Planned Parenthood is the main healthcare provider. Therefore, if Planned Parenthood doesn’t find other reputable funding sources, more than 1/3 of beneficiaries won’t obtain services at all.
Defunding these services will have significant impacts on the health of women. The bill undermines women’s ability to access the healthcare needed to control their lives and stay healthy. Those who will feel it most are low-income without other alternative means of access to affordable healthcare services.
Additionally, federal government expenditure will increase by $130 million when defunding is initiated. The government will have to cater to the increased number of unwanted births and children’s health care. According to a report by the Guttmacher Institute, a firm that deals with reproductive health, Planned Parenthood organizations saved the U.S about $16 billion in 2015.
What It Costs
From an economic view point, for every dollar invested in Planned Parenthood services, CBO revealed that an American taxpayer saves about $5 in unplanned pregnancy Medicaid costs and $8 in total costs. These costs do not only cover birth control and unplanned pregnancy. Costs also cover other conditions such as HIV, cervical cancer, and other sexually transmitted disease.
The defunding of these organizations threatens to cause significant problems. More people will be desperate and the alternative healthcare centers will not be able to cater for all. Nurses will be overworked as a result of a huge number of people seeking healthcare services. Defunding will also force many public health centers to reduce their hours. Or even close permanently due to lack of funds to support their daily healthcare services.
Conclusion
From a policymaker perspective, it is important to look at the issue of Planned Parenthood health care as a whole. The key is to not create gaps in access or gaps in care without first getting a solid work plan on how these gaps can be filled.
The #MakeHealthPrimary Journal is a Dress A Med publication.
