Starting in November of 2012, there will be new rules for the Texas Women’s Health Care Program (WHP). It is part of the Medicaid program. The new rules will further limit the amount of health care that low income women can receive coverage for. This is tragic news for low income women in Texas.
Medicaid is usually funded by both the federal government and the government of an individual state. The state of Texas, however, lost their federal funding for the Women’s Health Care program (WHP), after it decided to specifically exclude Planned Parenthood from receiving funding through that program. Planned Parenthood was the largest provider of women’s health care in the state of Texas.
Texas legislators intentionally excluded Planned Parenthood from receiving funding from WHP because the legislators believe that this would allow federal funds to pay for abortions. However, there are already rules in place that prevent that from happening.
In reality, this choice by Texas lawmakers prevents women who are covered by WHP from having access to cancer screenings, birth control, and other forms of women’s health care. It is obvious to most reasonable people that Planned Parenthood does much more than provide abortions.
As a result, Texas lost its federal funding for the WHP. The federal government was providing 90% of the funding for the program. The state of Texas was providing 10%. At this moment, the Women’s Health Care program in Texas still exists (in a greatly limited fashion). It appears that the program is on the brink of extinction, however.
As of November 1, 2012, the state of Texas is going to officially assume full responsibility for the Women’s Health Program. They are doing it without the funding that came from the federal government. The state has new rules that it will impose upon the program.
Dr. Kyle Janek, the Health and Human Services executive commissioner has threatened to completely end the WHP if the courts decide that it has to include Planned Parenthood. This decision is actually part of the new rules for the program. He said:
“If the courts make us do something that’s not consistent with state law then it says we’ll stop the program. If the courts say you have to include Planned Parenthood, then yes, it goes away.”
Another rule limits the ability of doctors to discuss abortion with their patients. The doctors are allowed to mention abortion, but only if the doctor “doesn’t direct a course of action to women in the program”. Doctors who provide abortions cannot take part in the program at all. Neither can doctors who are part of a group practice that includes a doctor who provides abortion.
Image by Tim Patterson on Flickr