Trump restores funds for Texas women’s health that were revoked over Planned Parenthood
The Trump administration awarded a $350 million grant Wednesday to fund Texas’ women’s health program — restoring federal funding the Obama administration had cut off when the state excluded Planned Parenthood from participating.
In 2013, Texas lost federal funds for the Healthy Texas Women program — which offers services like breast and cervical cancers screenings and family planning to low-income women — after the legislature revamped the program to exclude clinics affiliated with abortion providers.
Planned Parenthood did not perform abortions as part of the program, and at the time said it was treating nearly half of the women receiving services through it.
The decision was upheld in the courts in a state that has long banned the use of state funds for abortions. But federal officials revoked federal funds on the basis that it’s illegal to deny a women the right to choose her own doctor, and Texas funded the program with state dollars instead.
Through the Texas Health and Human Services Commission and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ agreement, the $350 million will be disbursed over the next five years, and fulfills the state’s 2017 request to the Trump administration.
While state leaders celebrated the news, advocacy groups warned that it sets a dangerous precedent that states can receive such federal funds despite excluding abortion providers.
In a statement Wednesday, Gov. Greg Abbott said he was grateful for President Donald Trump’s “commitment to protecting the unborn while providing much-needed health resources to Texas women.”
“The Lone Star State is once again in partnership with the federal government to provide meaningful family planning and health services while fostering a culture of life,” Abbott said in the statement.
According to a Texas Health and Human Services Commission news release, the waiver will allow Texas to serve more than 200,000 clients a year. In fiscal year 2018, roughly 173,000 women were served through the program.
However, Stacey Pogue, a senior policy analyst with the Center for Public Policy Priorities in Austin, said the federal funds will simply replace state dollars — not expand coverage for women in Texas.
“This doesn’t change anything on the ground for women in Texas,” Pogue said. “Planned Parenthood was kicked out of our program years ago. And there’s now a mountain of evidence showing that that decision hurt women and their access to health care. That damage is done today in Texas.”
According to CPPP, the number of women receiving health care services through the program declined 39%, from 115,226 in fiscal year 2011 to 70,336 in fiscal year 2016.
Sen. Jane Nelson, a Republican from Flower Mound and chair of the Senate Finance Committee, took to Twitter and said she was thrilled to see the approved funds, and stressed that the program “is serving more women than ever before — with funding at an all time high in our state budget.”
While it gives a state budget writer flexibility, for Texas women it changes nothing, Pogue said.
“The request to the federal government for this waiver was never one of let’s work together and serve more people with more health care and make it better,” she said. “The question was always, ‘Can you give us federal dollars so we can supplant our state dollars?’”
Courtney N. Phillips, the Texas Health and Human Services executive commissioner, said in a statement that with Abbott’s leadership, the state continues to make “significant strides in improving access to women’s health and family planning services in Texas.”
But Brittany Switzer, the Texas Democratic Party’s senior brand director, said in a statement that it only puts women at a greater risk of not having “unrestricted access to a full range of reproductive healthcare services, including abortion.”
“Texas already has the highest uninsured rate in the country. This decision today by the Trump Administration will make it harder for uninsured women to receive the healthcare access they need,” Switzer said in the statement.
In 2018, Texas’ uninsured rate increased for the second year in a row. And Texas topped the rest of the country, once again the state with the highest rate of uninsured residents at 17.7% — a little over 5 million people — and nearly double the national average of 8.9%.
Texas is also one of 14 states that has yet to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, and it’s leading a lawsuit that has the potential to shake up the nation’s healthcare system by striking the ACA in its entirety.
Expanding Medicaid in Texas could be step that would help ensure women get more comprehensive health coverage outside of what the Healthy Texas Women program offers, Pogue said.
“There’s money laying on the table that makes sure that women can get all the health care they need — and men too,” Pogue said. “And we walk away from it every time.”
