FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – August 3, 2017
Contact: Audrey Sandusky, (202) 344-5805, asandusky@nfprha.org

NFPRHA Urges Trump Administration to Deny Texas Medicaid Waiver

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association (NFPRHA) submitted comments to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on Texas’ proposed § 1115 Medicaid family planning waiver. NFPRHA urged CMS to reject Texas’ waiver, which seeks to receive federal dollars to maintain its existing, failed program. 

Both CMS and the courts have made clear that federal law gives patients the freedom to seek care from the family planning provider of their choice, and any state that attempts to target certain providers simply because they provide a full range of family planning and sexual health services is in violation of federal law.

“The Texas waiver request is a new attempt to circumvent federal protections for women’s health,” said Clare Coleman, President & CEO of NFPRHA, the national membership organization representing America's publicly funded family planning providers – state, county, and local health departments, hospitals, family planning councils, federally qualified health centers and other private non-profit organizations, including Planned Parenthood affiliates. 

“In 2012, Texas chose to forgo millions of dollars in federal funding in order to run a state-only funded family planning program that could exclude highly qualified providers. Data show that Texas’ decision has had a devastating effect on women’s access to family planning and other preventive services,” said Coleman. “A CMS approval of Texas’ waiver would perpetuate a failed experiment. Women should have the ability to choose the health provider that they know and trust for patient-centered health care, regardless of income level.”

Since Texas gave up federal funding in 2013 to create a family planning program that excludes providers that perform or promote abortions or affiliate with providers who do so, the effects have been extremely detrimental to the women of Texas. The state has seen the closure of one-quarter of all publicly funded family planning health centers, a 35% decline in women on Medicaid using the most effective methods of contraception, and a 27% spike in births among women.

“This waiver proposal is contrary to public health and the best interests of the women it is intended to serve, and NFPRHA calls on CMS to reject it immediately,” said Coleman.

 ### 

The National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association (NFPRHA) is a membership organization representing providers and administrators committed to helping people get the family planning education and care they need to make the best choices for themselves and their loved ones. NFPRHA works to enhance the ability of thousands of nurse practitioners, doctors, and other health professionals to provide high-quality family planning care through training and advocacy. For more information, visit nationalfamilyplanning.org.