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.

Key Facts about Title X

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.
In fiscal year (FY) 2023, Congress appropriated $286.5 million for Title X, the ninth year in a row of flat funding. This funding allocation is inadequate to meet the need for publicly funded family planning services and meant the dozens of qualified applicants thta were unable to be funded in the March 2022 funding cycle will not be able to join the network.
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 1.7 million people in 2021, down from 3.1 million in 2019. This is a very slight increase from the 1.5 million patients served in 2020. OPA attributed the sharp decrease from 2019 to 2020 to the Trump administration's Title X rule and the COVID-19 pandemic, while attributing the very small increase in 2021 to the fact that the Biden administration's Title X rule did not go into effect until November 2021 and most health centers did not have an opportunity to rejoin the network until after the March 2022 grants were announced.
There are close to 1,000 subrecipients and 3,000 health centers in the Title X network.
In 2021, 65% of people receiving Title X-supported services had incomes at or below the federal poverty line and 36% were uninsured.
In 2021, 65% of people receiving Title X-supported services identify with at least one non-white racial category and/or as Hispanic or Latino (using census categorizations).