Issues - Title X - National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association

What is Title X?

For more than 50 years, the Title X (ten) family planning program, run by the Office of Population Affairs (OPA) in the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), has been the only dedicated source of federal funding for family planning in the US. The program supports high-quality, culturally responsive family planning and sexual health care for people have no or low incomes or who may otherwise lack access to health care. A diverse network of Title X-funded health centers provides a range of essential preventive services, including cancer screenings, STI prevention, HIV services, and contraceptive care and counseling in communities across the country.

NFPRHA's Position

Title X family planning program is a critical piece of the health care safety net and should be preserved and strengthened to ensure that the millions of people who rely on it can continue to access high-quality and culturally responsive family planning and sexual health services. Attempts to restrict participation in the program or limit the ability of providers to offer the best care for their patients puts the public's health at risk and undermines the integrity of the program.

Key Facts about Title X

In fiscal year (FY) 2022, Congress appropriated $286.5 million for Title X, the eighth year in a row of flat funding. This funding allocation is inadequate to meet the need for publicly funded family planning services and meant dozens of qualified applicants were able to be funding in the March 2022 funding cycle.
The Biden administration's program rule, finalized in October 2021, lifted the harmful restrictions put in place by the Trump administration and reinstated program rules that governed the program prior to July 2019.
Title X providers served 1.5 million people in 2020, down from 3.1 million in 2019. OPA attributes 63% of the decrease to the 2019 Title X rule and 37% to the COVID-19 pandemic.
As of February 2022, Title X funded approximately 2,700 health centers, down from nearly 4,000 before the Trump Title X rule. These numbers are expected to rise quickly now that many grantees that left the program in 2019 have returned.
In 2020, 66% of people receiving Title X-supported services had incomes at or below the federal poverty line and 39% were uninsured.
Title X supports a wide range of services, from contraceptive services and supplies to breast and cervical cancer screenings to STI testing, education, and treatment.