As President Trump and Congressional GOP Try to Undermine Family Planning Services, Comptroller Stringer Unveils Report on Importance to NYC

New York —With the Trump Administration and Republicans in Congress working to undercut family planning and other preventive health care services, Comptroller Scott M. Stringer unveiled a new report today that breaks down for the first time the significance of Title X National Family Planning Program funding to New York City.

Title X is the only federal program that provides dedicated funding for family planning and related preventative health services. The program, which is administered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), supports a range of services, including cancer screenings (including cervical and breast), pregnancy testing, contraceptive counseling and services, pelvic exams, sexually transmitted disease testing, and infertility services along with health education and referrals for health and social services.

Using data compiled from organizations that directly receive Title X funds, the report quantifies the impact of Title X funding in New York City. Specifically, the report finds that between 2012 and 2015:

• 22 NYC health care providers received a total of $27.3 million in Title X funds, or almost $7 million annually
• On average, Title X funds supported the care of 148,000 New Yorkers each year, many of them low-income women without health insurance.
• 10 NYC Health + Hospitals sites collectively received over $3 million in Title X funding that supported the care of over 30,000 New Yorkers each year. In 2017, NYC Health + Hospitals reports that it will receive $1.3 million in federal Title X funds.

Title X funded services predominately benefit low-income and un-insured or under-insured individuals regardless of immigration status, many of whom, in the absence of these services, would lack access to health care services at all. According to federal data, in 2015 across New York State:

• 91 percent of clients served were women;
• 60 percent had incomes at or below the poverty line; and
• 32 percent lacked health insurance.

In addition, services funded by Title X are particularly critical for women in New York City between the ages of 18-34, who make up close to two-thirds of all users of family planning services supported by Title X funding and are uninsured at higher rates than women overall.

“Gutting Title X could have a catastrophic impact on New Yorkers who rely on this funding for healthcare. Leaving people uninsured, denying Americans cancer screenings, and putting medical care out of reach – all of it is totally backwards. It’s reckless, it’s cruel, and it will lead to suffering,” Comptroller Scott M. Stringer said. “These are essential services that are becoming the latest victim of Washington’s assault on common-sense. If Washington pulls the plug on these funds, those most in need will be hit the hardest. These policies are from a playbook from another century.”

The Title X program is a critical component of our nation’s health care system. In 2015, Title X programs helped provide an array of important, life-saving services, including 1 million breast exams, 750,000 pap tests, almost 5 million sexually transmitted disease tests and over 1 million HIV tests. In addition, research from the Guttmacher Institute found these type of services helped avert an estimated 822,000 unintended pregnancies, preventing close to 278,000 abortions and 387,000 unplanned births. Additional research has documented that this type of public investment in family planning programs reduces the need for more costly forms of health care, saving taxpayers as much as $7.09 for every public dollar spent.

Despite these benefits, numerous proposals being advanced by the White House and Congressional Republicans would decimate health care programs that support family planning services, including the Title X program in particular. Specifically, the House of Representatives Appropriations Committee recently proposed cutting all Title X funding even as overall funding for the program has dropped in the last decade.

“We can’t allow Washington to turn back the clock on family planning services because of backwards ideology,” Comptroller Stringer said. “If we’re going to be a society that leaves no one behind, then we can’t allow women to be singled out and denied healthcare to satisfy an ideologically-driven fever-dream. The health of New Yorkers and all Americans should be above politics.”

“At The Door, we see approximately 4,200 health care patients each year; a large majority of these teens and young adults come for comprehensive reproductive health care and are uninsured or underinsured.” said Julie Shapiro, the Executive Director of The Door.  “Title X funding provides crucial support for the vital, high quality, health services our young people need, including pregnancy prevention, STD and HIV prevention, and evidence- based reproductive health education.  I commend Comptroller Scott Stringer for raising the alarm about the threat to Title X funding and making it crystal clear that any cuts will have a devastating effect on our most vulnerable young people.”

“We applaud New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer for bringing to the forefront the important issue of continued funding for reproductive health and family planning services,” Lisa David, President and CEO of Public Health Solutions, said.  “As the leading nonprofit grantee of Title X federal funding for New York over the past 35 years, Public Health Solutions has been witness to the dramatic benefits from this funding, including steep declines in unintended pregnancies and a significant rise in the number of women accessing publicly-funded contraceptive services. Stripping Title X funding from the women who need and rely on these services the most – largely women living at or below the poverty level – will have a harmful, long term effect on nearly 150,000 low income women and their families in New York.”

“With reproductive health care access facing unprecedented threats on a federal level, it has never been more critical to protect Title X funding. We applaud Comptroller Scott Stringer for bringing light to the Title X program’s impact on New Yorkers and how much is at stake. The Title X program has helped millions of low-income people access key preventive health care services, including breast and cervical cancer screenings, birth control, and STD testing and treatment. Threats to Title X funding endanger millions of lives, including many of our patients and those of many other providers in NYC. Cuts to Title X funding would be devastating to NYC, and we must continue to work together to fight these proposals,” Christina Chang, Vice President of Public Affairs, Planned Parenthood of New York City, said.

“Title X support is invaluable in supporting decent family planning services for women throughout New York, and throughout the nation. We help make families stronger  when we provide these vital healthcare services. Title X makes our communities healthier, and our healthcare system more effective,” Robert M. Hayes, President and CEO of Community Healthcare Network, said.

“Title X funding allows us to offer contraception to eligible patients without any financial barriers, which we know greatly increases their use of contraception, especially Long Active Reversible Contraceptives. Title X gives women a chance to plan their pregnancies, which helps families, communities, and the country,” Dr. Gail Bauchman, MD Family Medicine OB/GYN Department, Charles B. Wang Community Health Center, said.

“Public investments in the Title X family planning program are vital to the public health workforce’s capacity to provide care to the millions of women and men who rely on the program as their main source of health care, from cancer screenings and STD services to HIV testing and contraceptive care. Despite overwhelming evidence demonstrating the value of Title X and growing need for publicly funded family planning care in communities nationwide, ideologically driven proposals designed to erode safety-net family planning continue to gain momentum. The fight to keep Title X strong is more important than ever,” Clare Coleman, President & CEO of the National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association, said.

To read the full report, click here. To view a fact sheet about the importance of the Title X program in New York City, click here.

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