Preventive Reproductive Health Care Pays Off
This year is the 55th birthday of the birth control pill. It is also 44 years since the U.S. Supreme Court decriminalized birth control in Griswold v. Connecticut. Yet, debates over family planning and contraception are alive and widespread.
birth control pill. It is also 44 years since the U.S. Supreme Court
decriminalized birth control in Griswold v. Connecticut. Yet, debates
over family planning and contraception are alive and widespread.
Coloradans witnessed this first hand last fall when the "personhood"
amendment that could have re-criminalized birth control in the state
was defeated. Similar measures have already been introduced in seven
other states so far this year.
policy discussions about the role of publicly funded preventive
reproductive health care services demonstrate a great step forward in
accepting that health care includes family planning. In fact, debates
over the availability of affordable birth control, sex education and
the financial wherewithal to acquire said resources, are moot without
considering the critical role government can play to empower
individuals to make responsible reproductive health decisions. This
includes the support of publicly funded family planning programs like
Title X and the Medicaid family planning waiver.
recent report by the Guttmacher Institute, 2 million unintended
pregnancies and 810,000 abortions nationwide are prevented annually by
publicly funded family planning services. In Colorado, publicly funded
family planning centers are estimated to have saved more than $69
million in 2004 alone and, in 2006, prevented 28,500 unintended
pregnancies and 11,900 abortions. These numbers demonstrate the value
of publicly funded, equitable resources that enable families of all
socio-economic backgrounds to acquire the means for a secure livelihood.
Further,
the current economic downturn puts a significant strain on state
resources. For Colorado, where state taxpayer dollars cover prenatal,
delivery, and infant-care expenses for an estimated 28,000 births every
year, the Guttmacher report states an easy path to minimize health care
expenditures covered by the state is to invest in preventive
reproductive health care.
Last year, Gov. Bill Ritter signed
into law a bill that removed a statutorily imposed income-eligibility
cap for preventive family planning services provided through the
state’s Medicaid program. The law authorizes the Colorado Department of
Health Care Policy and Financing (HCPF) to determine an appropriate
income-eligibility limit indexed to the federal poverty level that
demonstrates budget neutrality. HCPF must submit a waiver to the
federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for this change to
go into effect. If approved, the waiver will enable Coloradans who
don’t have health insurance and who otherwise would not qualify for
full Medicaid benefits to be eligible for preventive reproductive
health care services.
Colorado joined the ranks of more than 25
other states that are working to expand their publicly funded family
planning programs to ensure affordable access to critical services that
not only yield significant cost savings, but also have a tremendous
impact on reducing unintended pregnancy, the need for abortion, and the
spread of dangerous diseases.
Research verifies that $4 are
saved for $1 invested in preventive reproductive health care services,
from birth control counseling, distribution of contraceptive drugs and
devices, and screenings for sexually transmitted infections. And
Colorado pays just 10 cents of every $1 spent on these preventive
family planning services, unlike other health care services covered by
Medicaid.
As of 2008, 26 states had obtained federal approval to
extend eligibility for Medicaid family planning services to individuals
who would otherwise not be eligible; 20 states extend benefits under an
income-eligibility formula similar to that pursued by Colorado. These
states have demonstrated that expanded family planning services have
dramatically reduced overall state and federal spending because of a
decrease in Medicaid expenditures for prenatal, delivery, and infant
care coverage.
More than 270,000 Colorado women and girls aged
13 to 44 needed publicly funded birth control services and supplies in
2006. This number will only rise as private insurance rates increase
and Coloradans who have been laid off lose their health care benefits.
Colorado already has taken steps to maximize the opportunities for
savings, but given the current climate, we can and must do better.
By
working in collaboration with medical experts, community-based
organizations, and reproductive health care advocates, Colorado
policymakers can develop common-sense strategies that ensure preventive
family planning services are considered core health insurance benefits
and essential components in comprehensive health care reform. As a
result, Coloradans can realize both tremendous cost savings related to
reproductive health care, and healthier families and communities.
This post first appeared on American Forum.