FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 30, 2020
Contact: Audrey Sandusky, (202) 344-5805, asandusky@nfprha.org

CMS Guidance Targets Vulnerable, Weakens America’s Health Care System

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a Dear State Medicaid Director letter that encourages states to agree to caps on their federal Medicaid funding in exchange for not being required to comply with key Medicaid requirements and patient protections. This radical restructuring of how Medicaid is financed and managed has the potential to greatly harm the health of poor and low-income individuals, preventing them from accessing preventive health care, including family planning and sexual health services. The following is a statement from Clare Coleman, President & CEO of the National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association (NFPRHA).

“CMS guidance issued today will inevitably lead to state Medicaid programs that provide fewer services to fewer patients, forcing an untold number of poor and low-income people to go without care. This will drive up negative health outcomes in communities across the country. Those with the greatest need in this country have the most to lose.

“As the largest payer of family planning care, Medicaid plays an essential role in securing access to health care coverage for millions of people. Allowing states to block grant Medicaid could upend the nation’s family planning safety net and leave patients without a lifeline.

“Access to family planning services can greatly improve people’s ability to further their education, find steady employment, and protect their health and well-being, which is why family planning has served as a core element of the Medicaid program for decades. Reducing critical funding states need to keep Medicaid strong and allowing core services and protections to be eliminated as a tradeoff will create both health and economic hardships for the most vulnerable in our communities. We stand in opposition to today’s guidance and ask CMS to quickly rescind the letter.”

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NFPRHA is a membership organization representing publicly funded family planning providers and administrators nationwide. NFPRHA advances and elevates the importance of family planning in the nation’s health care system and promotes and supports the work of family planning providers and administrators, especially those in the safety net. For more information, visit nationalfamilyplanning.org.