- Oct 17, 2011
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In a controversial move [in 2017], the Republican-led Iowa Legislature opted to leave behind $3 million annually by discontinuing the state's participation in the federal Medicaid family planning network. Instead, policymakers replaced the program with the current state-run version.
Critics argued the move would result in Iowans receiving fewer family planning services, a concern that some say has been confirmed by the latest state figures.
Iowa's state-run family planning program has seen a nearly 83% drop in people using its services since it was created in 2017 to exclude abortion providers such as Planned Parenthood from government funding, new state figures show.
The main goal of Iowa's family planning program is to help low- and moderate-income Iowans obtain birth control, routine exams and testing for sexually transmitted infections, along with a variety of other sexual and reproductive health services.
In 2016, the cost of services administered was $1.5 million, before falling in 2017 to nearly $837,000. In 2021, the cost for 423 patients under the program was less than $165,000.
[Well, on the plus side, they've saved almost $1.5 million by providing hardly any family planning health services. I wonder what they could do with that money?]
"While fewer Iowans are able to access care under this program, the state Legislature is putting $1.5 million into funding anti-abortion centers who do not provide any kind of medical care and they are touting them as one of the solutions to the many public health care crises that they've created through their harmful policies," Dooley said.
Critics argued the move would result in Iowans receiving fewer family planning services, a concern that some say has been confirmed by the latest state figures.
Iowa's state-run family planning program has seen a nearly 83% drop in people using its services since it was created in 2017 to exclude abortion providers such as Planned Parenthood from government funding, new state figures show.
The main goal of Iowa's family planning program is to help low- and moderate-income Iowans obtain birth control, routine exams and testing for sexually transmitted infections, along with a variety of other sexual and reproductive health services.
Fewer than 500 Iowans used program services in 2021
By comparison, in 2016, when the state family planning program was still using federal Medicaid money, 4,642 people received services.In 2016, the cost of services administered was $1.5 million, before falling in 2017 to nearly $837,000. In 2021, the cost for 423 patients under the program was less than $165,000.
[Well, on the plus side, they've saved almost $1.5 million by providing hardly any family planning health services. I wonder what they could do with that money?]
"While fewer Iowans are able to access care under this program, the state Legislature is putting $1.5 million into funding anti-abortion centers who do not provide any kind of medical care and they are touting them as one of the solutions to the many public health care crises that they've created through their harmful policies," Dooley said.
