New report examines potential impact of changes in Texas' Women's Health Program

Changes could leave tens of thousands of women stranded

2012-10-11

(Press-News.org) WASHINGTON and NEW YORK – A new report finds that Texas policies to exclude Planned Parenthood clinics from a state family planning program – the Women's Health Program (WHP) – would result in leaving tens of thousands of women unable to get care.

"Deteriorating Access to Women's Health Services in Texas: Potential Effects of the Women's Health Program Affiliate Rule," released by the Geiger Gibson/RCHN Community Health Foundation Research Collaborative in the Department of Health Policy of the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services, examines the impact of Texas' plan to bar Planned Parenthood clinics from participating in the state family planning program, even though they do not provide abortions. This study builds off a prior analysis released by the Collaborative, which found that these clinics provided care to about 52,000 WHP patients—approximately half of all WHP clients. This report more closely examines the extent to whether other family planning clinics that operate in the same markets as the Planned Parenthood clinics will be able to serve women after Planned Parenthood clinics are excluded. An analysis of five market areas in Texas (Bexar, Dallas, Hidalgo, Lubbock and Midland Counties) found that Planned Parenthood clinics are the dominant WHP providers in their markets, serving more than half to four-fifths of the WHP patients in their areas. Other family planning clinics in those areas lack the capacity to serve that large a spillover in patients, if Planned Parenthood clinics are no longer allowed to do so.

"Tens of thousands of Texas women could lose access to affordable family planning after Planned Parenthood clinics are shut out of the Women's Health Program," said Leighton Ku, PhD, MPH, Professor of Health Policy and lead author of the study. "And such threats to health care access can lead to significant public health and economic consequences."

The study also analyzed data about the costs and benefits of family planning services offered by the WHP. The researchers conclude that if tens of thousands of women would lose access to family planning after the Planned Parenthood clinics are excluded, the number of unplanned births in Texas could increase by 2,000 to 3,000. The state's policy change has led the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to conclude that the WHP would no longer qualify for federal matching funds, which now pay 90 percent of the program's cost. This would mean that the program would no longer save the state money, as it currently does, but that the WHP could create a net financial loss for the state of Texas.

"This study shows WHP not only provides family planning services, but offers other preventive health services, such as screening for cancer, diabetes and high blood pressure." Peter Shin, PhD, MPH, Collaborative director and a study co-author, commented, "The state's planned policy will mean that thousands of low-income women would also lose access to these essential preventive health services."

### To access the policy research brief, click here: http://sphhs.gwu.edu/departments/healthpolicy/publications/TexasWHP.pdf.

About the Geiger Gibson / RCHN Community Health Foundation Research Collaborative The Geiger Gibson Program in Community Health Policy, established in 2003 and named after human rights and health center pioneers Drs. H. Jack Geiger and Count Gibson, is part of the School of Public Health and Health Services at The George Washington University. It focuses on the history and contributions of health centers and the major policy issues that affect health centers, their communities, and the patients that they serve. Additional information about the Research Collaborative can be found online at www.gwumc.edu/sphhs/departments/healthpolicy/ggprogram or at rchnfoundation.org.

About the RCHN Community Health Foundation The RCHN Community Health Foundation, founded in October 2005, is a not-for-profit foundation whose mission is to support community health centers through strategic investment, outreach, education, and cutting-edge health policy research. The only foundation in the country dedicated to community health centers, the Foundation builds on health centers' 40-year commitment to the provision of accessible, high quality, community-based healthcare services for underserved and medically vulnerable populations. The Foundation's gift to the Geiger Gibson program supports health center research and scholarship. For more information on RCHN CHF, visit www.rchnfoundation.org.

About the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services: Established in July 1997, the School of Public Health and Health Services brought together three longstanding university programs in the schools of medicine, business, and education that we have since expanded substantially. Today, more than 1,100 students from nearly every U.S. state and more than 40 nations pursue undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral-level degrees in public health. Our student body is one of the most ethnically diverse among the nation's private schools of public health. http://sphhs.gwu.edu/

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