For Immediate Release: August 8, 2024 

Contact: Audrey Sandusky, asandusky@nfprha.org

CMS Releases Guidance to Improve Access to Family Planning Care

Washington, DC -- In guidance released on Thursday, August 8, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has made clear its commitment to ensure that all people enrolled in Medicaid have access to the family planning care they need without unnecessary barriers. NFPRHA is pleased that the guidance incorporates important provisions it advocated for the agency to consider, including the following: 

• The guidance reiterates that, under federal law, every Medicaid beneficiary can freely choose to receive family planning care from any qualified provider and that individuals can access the contraceptive method of their choice, free from coercion. 
• Contraceptive quality measures now included in Medicaid and CHIP data sets should not be used as performance incentives for providers, which helps ensure that individuals can choose the care that is best for them. 
• The guidance shares best practices about how to ensure coverage of over-the-counter contraceptive methods, as well as the importance of family planning services in postpartum coverage. 

“Everyone deserves to have access to the family planning and sexual health care they need from providers they trust,” said Clare Coleman, President & CEO of the National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association (NFPRHA). “Unfortunately, we have seen states intensify their political attacks against this essential care covered under Medicaid, which disproportionately hurt people of color, people with low incomes, and people of reproductive age. The new CMS guidance serves as a crucial reminder to state Medicaid agencies of their responsibility to provide comprehensive family planning services as part of Medicaid coverage. We applaud CMS for taking these critical steps toward improving access to family planning care for all.” 

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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.