Latest news with #NationalFamilyPlanningandReproductiveHealthAssociation
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Clinics begin closing as Trump admin continues freeze on family planning funds
Clinics around the country that provide contraception and other reproductive health services to low-income patients are running out of funds as they await word from the Trump administration on tens of millions of dollars in grants frozen last month. Dozens of medical providers from California to Maine, including nine Planned Parenthood affiliates, have struggled to stay afloat since more than $65 million dollars for the Title X family planning program was withheld on April 1 — a funding freeze the Trump administration said was aimed at enforcing executive orders on diversity and immigration. Federal officials gave the groups 10 days to submit detailed records showing they don't discriminate in hiring or in patient care, but those who did so by the deadline said they have not received a response. 'It's been radio silence,' said Sarah Stoesz, the interim CEO of Utah's Planned Parenthood chapter. 'For some inexplicable reason, they are taking a meat axe to the healthcare system in America.' Utah is one of seven states to lose all Title X funding, along with California, Hawaii, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, and Montana. The National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association, which represents most Title X grantees, estimated that 846,000 patients will lose access to services if the funding isn't restored. The Trump administration did not respond to questions about the status of the funds. Some impacted health providers are considering legal action. Others are pleading with their state legislatures and private donors to backfill the missing federal dollars. And some, having exhausted their emergency funds, are shutting their doors. Two of the eight Planned Parenthood health centers in rural Utah will close at the end of this month after the Trump administration froze $2.8 million in Title X funds the state affiliate was slated to receive. The clinics — one on the northern border near Idaho and the other by the southern border with Arizona — collectively saw roughly 4,500 patients in 2024. While Utah's Planned Parenthood chapter will attempt to continue seeing some of those patients by telehealth, some will need to drive more than 100 miles to reach the nearest physical family planning clinic if they need in-person services. The group is also cutting staff and increasing its sliding scale fees for low-income patients at its remaining Utah clinics as a result of the funding freeze. 'The impact is going to be particularly brutal in red states that don't have a local government that is ready to step up and help support family planning services,' said Shireen Ghorbani, the group's interim president. 'And our county health departments and regional health departments do not always have the capacity, and, in fact, often refer patients to Planned Parenthood for STI testing. So we anticipate that people will defer care or just not receive the care that they need.' The Trump administration is also withholding nearly $2 million from Maine Family Planning — the Title X grantee that supports 60 clinics across the state — over what the organization's CEO George Hill called 'DEIA-related concerns.' That's about 20 percent of its annual budget, a loss Hill said 'will have consequences,' particularly in a rural state where people can't easily find another source of care. 'If the funds dry out and we're unable to replace them, clinics will close. Access will be denied. And a lot of people are simply not going to get contraception if they have to get in the car and drive two hours away,' he said. 'It's gonna be painful, and I resent it deeply.' In addition to the tens of millions of dollars in grants withheld in their entirety over alleged violations of Trump's executive orders and federal law, the administration also gave partial grants to some Title X providers that they report are inadequate to maintain services. Every Body Texas, the nonprofit supporting more than 150 Title X clinics across the state, received $7 million earlier this month — less than half of the $15.4 million they got from the program last year. CEO Kristie Bardell called it 'a major blow,' and warned that without additional funding, they will have to cut services for their more than 180,000 patients. Texas has the largest population of uninsured people in the U.S., and Bardell said the demand for free and subsidized family planning services is higher than she's ever seen. 'When reproductive health care disappears, cancer goes undetected, rates of unintended pregnancy and STIs rise, and the health gap grows wider,' she warned. 'We're risking decades of public health progress — and people's lives.' Even if the funds are released in the coming weeks, the reprieve may only be temporary. A draft budget document obtained by POLITICO revealed that the Trump administration is considering getting rid of Title X — as well as other family planning programs like the HHS' Teen Pregnancy Prevention.
Politico
22-04-2025
- Health
- Politico
Clinics begin closing as Trump admin continues freeze on family planning funds
Clinics around the country that provide contraception and other reproductive health services to low-income patients are running out of funds as they await word from the Trump administration on tens of millions of dollars in grants frozen last month . Dozens of medical providers from California to Maine, including nine Planned Parenthood affiliates, have struggled to stay afloat since more than $65 million dollars for the Title X family planning program was withheld on April 1 — a funding freeze the Trump administration said was aimed at enforcing executive orders on diversity and immigration. Federal officials gave the groups 10 days to submit detailed records showing they don't discriminate in hiring or in patient care, but those who did so by the deadline said they have not received a response. 'It's been radio silence,' said Sarah Stoesz, the interim CEO of Utah's Planned Parenthood chapter. 'For some inexplicable reason, they are taking a meat axe to the healthcare system in America.' Utah is one of seven states to lose all Title X funding, along with California, Hawaii, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, and Montana. The National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association, which represents most Title X grantees, estimated that 846,000 patients will lose access to services if the funding isn't restored. The Trump administration did not respond to questions about the status of the funds. Some impacted health providers are considering legal action. Others are pleading with their state legislatures and private donors to backfill the missing federal dollars. And some, having exhausted their emergency funds, are shutting their doors. Two of the eight Planned Parenthood health centers in rural Utah will close at the end of this month after the Trump administration froze $2.8 million in Title X funds the state affiliate was slated to receive. The clinics — one on the northern border near Idaho and the other by the southern border with Arizona — collectively saw roughly 4,500 patients in 2024. While Utah's Planned Parenthood chapter will attempt to continue seeing some of those patients by telehealth, some will need to drive more than 100 miles to reach the nearest physical family planning clinic if they need in-person services. The group is also cutting staff and increasing its sliding scale fees for low-income patients at its remaining Utah clinics as a result of the funding freeze. 'The impact is going to be particularly brutal in red states that don't have a local government that is ready to step up and help support family planning services,' said Shireen Ghorbani, the group's interim president. 'And our county health departments and regional health departments do not always have the capacity, and, in fact, often refer patients to Planned Parenthood for STI testing. So we anticipate that people will defer care or just not receive the care that they need.' The Trump administration is also withholding nearly $2 million from Maine Family Planning — the Title X grantee that supports 60 clinics across the state — over what the organization's CEO George Hill called 'DEIA-related concerns.' That's about 20 percent of its annual budget, a loss Hill said 'will have consequences,' particularly in a rural state where people can't easily find another source of care. 'If the funds dry out and we're unable to replace them, clinics will close. Access will be denied. And a lot of people are simply not going to get contraception if they have to get in the car and drive two hours away,' he said. 'It's gonna be painful, and I resent it deeply.' In addition to the tens of millions of dollars in grants withheld in their entirety over alleged violations of Trump's executive orders and federal law, the administration also gave partial grants to some Title X providers that they report are inadequate to maintain services. Every Body Texas, the nonprofit supporting more than 150 Title X clinics across the state, received $7 million earlier this month — less than half of the $15.4 million they got from the program last year. CEO Kristie Bardell called it 'a major blow,' and warned that without additional funding, they will have to cut services for their more than 180,000 patients. Texas has the largest population of uninsured people in the U.S., and Bardell said the demand for free and subsidized family planning services is higher than she's ever seen. 'When reproductive health care disappears, cancer goes undetected, rates of unintended pregnancy and STIs rise, and the health gap grows wider,' she warned. 'We're risking decades of public health progress — and people's lives.' Even if the funds are released in the coming weeks, the reprieve may only be temporary. A draft budget document obtained by POLITICO revealed that the Trump administration is considering getting rid of Title X — as well as other family planning programs like the HHS' Teen Pregnancy Prevention.
The Guardian
14-04-2025
- Health
- The Guardian
Free US family planning clinics face financial ruin after White House freezes funds
More than 10 days after the Trump administration froze roughly $66m of federal funds that had been earmarked for no- and low-cost family planning services, the providers that had been scheduled to receive that money are staring down the possibility of financial collapse. Title X, the country's largest federal family planning program, provides clinics across the country with more than $200m each year for services such as contraception, STI tests and cancer screenings. In 2023, more than 2 million people received healthcare through Title X, which helps people regardless of income, age or citizenship status. For many, Title X is their only source of healthcare. But the future of the decades-old program is now in limbo. On 31 March, the Trump administration notified 16 Title X providers that their funds would be temporarily withheld 'pending a compliance review', a US Department of Health and Human Services official told the Guardian. Title X programs had just 10 days – until Thursday, 10 April – to turn over documentation for the review. Yet multiple Title X providers told the Guardian that they have not heard anything from the Trump administration since submitting their documentation. Seven states currently have no Title X funding, while another 16 states have lost most or some Title X dollars, according to the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association, which represents the majority of Title X providers. In total, the funding freeze affects clinics that, in 2023, served about 846,000 people. As Title X clinics often operate with razor-thin margins, this delay in funding could prove catastrophic, Title X providers said. 'If these funds are not released, many clinics are going to be facing the decision to either significantly reduce their staff and services or close their doors altogether,' said Michelle Trupiano, executive director of Missouri Family Health Council Inc, which handles Title X funding for 52 clinics scattered across Missouri. 'Once a clinic lays off staff or closes their doors, it's almost impossible to open them again.' If Title X funding is not restored by the end of the month, Trupiano said, clinics in Missouri may have to cut their staff, hours and services. However, some providers have just two weeks' worth of reserve funding, said Clare Coleman, CEO of the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association. Among some providers, changes – such as charging for care that would previously have been free – may come as early as this week. The Department of Health and Human Services did not respond to a request for comment on when Title X providers may expect to learn more about their withheld funding. Many of the notices sent to the Title X providers with frozen funding accuse the providers of being potentially engaged 'in widespread practices across hiring, operations, and patient treatment that 'unavoidably employ race in a negative manner'' as well as possibly violating a Trump administration executive order prohibiting 'taxpayer subsidization of open borders'. Missouri Family Health Council, which handles funding for the 52 Title X clinics scattered across Missouri, was cited for a 2023 job posting that mentioned 'diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging', Truppiano said. Converge, which deals with funding for 120 Title X clinics in Mississippi and Tennessee, was cited for a 2020 statement that, in the wake of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor's deaths, affirmed that Converge's leaders were 'committed to having honest, on-going, challenging, and courageous conversations about how our work is addressing systemic racism in reproductive health care', according to documents viewed by the Guardian. Nine Planned Parenthood affiliates that receive Title X funding were cited for their mission statements as well as public documents that emphasize a 'commitment to Black communities', Politico reported. Sign up to This Week in Trumpland A deep dive into the policies, controversies and oddities surrounding the Trump administration after newsletter promotion A spokesperson for Maine Family Planning, which handles Title X funding for Maine, declined to specifically why the Trump administration cited the organization, but said it was 'some of our public statements about health equity'. 'Our funding application adheres to the current requirements of the Title X program and regulations, which encompasses health equity,' said the spokesperson, Olivia Pennington. 'We're going to do everything we can to fight back, and that may include litigation.' If it continues, the freeze on Title X funding will likely hit women of color the hardest. In 2023, 85% of the 2.8 million people who sought care through Title X were women, and 48% identified as a race other than white. The Trump administration should have at least given Title X providers time to amend their funding applications to come into compliance with the administration's new policies, Coleman said. 'In no letter does it suggest that there's something inside the application for funds itself that is problematic,' she said. 'This is just not on the level.'
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Reproductive health clinics are losing federal funding — and conservative states will be hit hardest
A federal move to withhold 16 family planning grants across 22 states could undercut access to basic reproductive health care — including cancer screenings, testing for sexually transmitted infections and contraception. The impact will likely be felt hardest in states with conservative leadership, which include some of the poorest states in the country. Beginning this week, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said it is temporarily withholding millions of dollars of grants through Title X, the federal program that supports family planning services for low-income people, 'pending an evaluation of possible violations of their grant terms,' according to HHS spokesman Andrew Nixon. He said the targeted providers may be in violation of 'federal civil rights law' — language the administration has used to target programs promoting racial and gender-based equality — as well as President Donald Trump's immigration orders. Reproductive health providers said those arguments are misleading and are being used as an excuse to withhold funding from contraception providers. If upheld, the cuts, worth about $65.8 million, could affect 870 health facilities serving about 846,000 patients across the country, according to a tally by the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association, a membership organization for providers. Clinics affected by the administration's move are based in Alaska, California, Connecticut, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia and West Virginia. Because of the cuts, seven states — California, Hawaii, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana and Utah — have no clinics receiving federal Title X funds, potentially making it harder for patients to access basic family planning services. Clare Coleman, president of the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association, said the size of cuts in Ohio, Idaho, Alaska, and North and South Carolina could have tangible implications for patients, noting the size of the grants and the unlikelihood of state governments stepping in to replace lost federal funding. Title X clinics are often the main providers in their communities of birth control services, testing for sexually transmitted infections, cancer screenings, sex education and wellness checkups. Many also provide gender-affirming care, though that service is not funded by Title X. The impact could also be heightened in rural areas, where Title X clinics can be one of the main reliable providers of reproductive health care — especially for young people, per one 2022 study. Maine, Mississippi and Montana have some of the country's highest shares of residents living in rural areas, and Mississippi has one of the highest poverty rates. 'This will create a cascading effect across the South, disrupting access to basic health care services such as cancer screenings, STI testing and treatment, birth control, infertility care and more,' said Jamie Bardwell, the co-founder of Converge, a provider that is the sole Title X grantee in Mississippi. 'These disruptions will lead to increased negative health outcomes, including higher rates of unintended pregnancy and STIs.' The letter Converge received to say its funding had been withheld pointed to a statement the organization made in 2020 opposing racism in health care, citing the death of George Floyd — a Black man in Minnesota killed by police — and the history of reproductive coercion, which has historically targeted Black women in particular. The letter, sent by HHS and reviewed by The 19th, argued that the statement violated the Civil Rights Act, a law that ended segregation and outlawed discrimination based on race, sex, religion or national origin. In 2024, Converge provided care to 30,000 people in Mississippi across 91 health centers; in Tennessee, its 33 facilities saw almost 12,000 patients. Between 2018 and 2022, the most recent years for which federal data is available, Mississippi had the second-highest rate of pregnancy-related deaths in the country, falling only behind Tennessee. Just under 40 percent of Mississippi residents are Black, per the U.S. Census Bureau — and state data from 2017 through 2019 shows that Black women in the state were at four times greater risk of pregnancy-related death compared to White women. Some family planning clinics may be able to secure replacement funding from state governments or from private donations. But it will be more difficult to do so in states with conservative leadership, where lawmakers have shown less willingness to put money into reproductive health, Coleman said. In 2017, the most recent year for which a federal analysis is available, Title X funding made up about one-fifth of all revenue for clinics funded by the program. Family planning providers have indicated they intend to challenge the policy in court. 'We will fight any attacks on the vital health care we provide Mainers with every tool in our arsenal,' said George Hill, the head of Maine Family Planning. 'That may include litigating to defend the rights of the Title X family planning network in Maine.' But unless quickly reversed, the federal policy will likely result in health centers laying off staff and then shutting down entirely, Coleman said. Title X clinics operate on thin financial margins. The violations the Trump administration has alleged — of 'federal civil rights law' and Trump's immigration orders, including one that prohibits 'non-cash benefits' from going to undocumented people — are misleading, she added, and do not support the move to suddenly withhold funding. Title X-funded clinics are not supposed to turn people away because of inability to pay or based on whether they live locally, and they typically do not ask patients about their citizenship status. And though Trump has issued executive orders targeting immigration as well as diversity, equity and inclusion, HHS has not issued guidance about how they would implement those orders with regard to Title X — meaning health centers had not received any warning about how their funding applications could be at risk. Organizations whose funding was officially withheld Tuesday received letters notifying them only a day in advance. 'This is a pretext. This isn't on the level,' Coleman said. Because many Title X-backed health centers are operated by Planned Parenthood, the program has become a target for abortion opponents, even more so since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, even though the program itself does not provide funding to support abortion. During the 2024 presidential campaign, Vice President JD Vance suggested that Trump would support policies to 'defund' Planned Parenthood. In 2018, the most recent year for which data is available, 40 percent of people receiving health care through Title X got that care from a Planned Parenthood clinic. Nine of the 16 grantees affected are Planned Parenthood affiliates. The move comes as family planning providers — and their patients — are uniquely vulnerable. The Supreme Court heard a case Wednesday over whether South Carolina's Medicaid program can refuse to cover health services provided at Planned Parenthood clinics, even if they would cover them at other health facilities. A ruling in favor of South Carolina would likely encourage other states with anti-abortion governments to enact similar policies, which could in turn result in fewer patients being able to afford reproductive health care. The post Reproductive health clinics are losing federal funding — and conservative states will be hit hardest appeared first on The 19th. News that represents you, in your inbox every weekday. Subscribe to our free, daily newsletter.
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Trump administration pauses some family planning grants as it investigates compliance with laws
The federal government has paused $27.5 million for organizations that provide family planning, contraception, cancer screenings and sexually transmitted infection services as it investigates whether they're complying with the law. The National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association says 16 organizations received notice Monday that funding is on hold. At least 11 Planned Parenthood Federation of America regional affiliates and all recipients of federal family planning, or Title X, grants in seven states, had funding withheld. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services declined to say which laws or executive orders the groups are being investigated for violating, though NFPFHA said some of the letters cited civil rights laws. Trump has issued executive orders targeting programs that consider race in any way, some of which have been put on hold by judges. Health and Human Services, which is in the midst of deep layoffs, also said that 'no final decisions on any spending changes for Planned Parenthood have been made.' Republicans have long railed against the millions of dollars that flow every year to Planned Parenthood and its clinics, which offer abortions but also birth control, cancer and disease screenings, among other things. Federal law prohibits taxpayer dollars from paying for most abortions. Providers said the impact on health care will especially hit lower-income people. 'We know what happens when health care providers cannot use Title X funding,' Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Action Fund, said in a statement. 'People across the country suffer, cancers go undetected, access to birth control is severely reduced, and the nation's STI crisis worsens.' The reproductive health association, whose members include most Title X grant recipients, said that about one-fourth of them received the letter, including all the recipients in California, Hawaii, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana and Utah. Mississippi law bans abortion at all stages of pregnancy. George Hill, president and CEO of Maine Family Planning, which provides abortion services, said that if necessary his organization would go to court to seek the funds. 'The Administration's dangerous decision to withhold Maine Family Planning's Title X funds jeopardizes access to critical health care services for thousands of Mainers. Any delay in disbursement of federal grants will have a detrimental effect on our state family planning network and the patients we serve," Hill said. The Missouri Family Health Council, which pays for programs throughout Missouri and part of Oklahoma, including Planned Parenthood affiliates, also had its funding blocked. Planned Parenthood Great Plains, which includes Missouri, Oklahoma and Kansas, said regional clinics remain committed to providing health care despite the funding uncertainty. 'They want to shut down Planned Parenthood health centers to appease their anti-abortion backers, and they're willing to take away birth control, cancer screenings, and STI testing and treatment to get their way,' Great Plains Planned Parenthood President and CEO Emily Wales said in a statement. 'If blocking health care for low-income patients is what the Trump administration means by 'making America great again,' then we want no part of it.' ___ Associated Press reporters Summer Ballentine and Amanda Seitz contributed to this article.
