Planned Parenthood warns Medicaid defund and Title X uncertainties threaten services
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Summary
Planned Parenthood of Northern New England told the committee Title X funds support family-planning services statewide and that a federal "defund" provision has blocked Medicaid billing to Planned Parenthood through July, forcing state interventions and risking service gaps.
Jessica Barkwas, vice president of public affairs for Planned Parenthood of Northern New England, briefed the committee about Title X and recent federal actions that have disrupted Medicaid reimbursement for Planned Parenthood.
Barkwas said Title X is a federal family-planning program established in 1970 that supports clinical family-planning and related preventive services; she emphasized that Title X funds are not used for abortion-related services. "Title X allows us to provide sliding-scale family-planning care," Barkwas said, and she reported that PPNNE receives approximately $760,000 annually as Vermont’s Title X subrecipient.
Barkwas described a state budget effort to create a Medicaid supplemental reimbursement for family-planning services that would have used an $85,000 state investment to unlock roughly $850,000 in federal 90/10 match funds. She told members the state appropriation was included in the budget, but implementation stalled after DIVA reported it could not determine which codes qualified for the enhanced match.
Barkwas also explained a federal provision in HR1 that, for one fiscal year beginning in July, prohibits Planned Parenthood from accepting Medicaid as insurance. "This defund is not about abortion," she said. "It removed reimbursement for many of the routine services we provide — cancer screenings, STI testing, well-person visits — and risks shifting large volumes to FQHCs that cannot easily absorb that demand."
She cited national analyses estimating the defund could reduce $52 million in taxpayer-funded preventative care nationwide and a Guttmacher Institute finding that other providers could not fully replace Planned Parenthood capacity; locally she said the state took steps in the BAA to preserve access and that DIVA and donors have helped mitigate immediate harm.
Committee members asked for more detail on the Medicaid-family-planning implementation problem and for follow-up with DIVA on how to ensure Vermont draws down available federal matches and preserves access while the defund period remains in effect. Barkwas said PPNNE and the Department of Health are coordinating on the Title X continuation application and that the organization has short-term coverage through collaborating donors and state actions but stressed donors should not be the permanent funding solution.
The committee agreed to pursue additional technical follow-ups with DIVA and agency staff to resolve coding and implementation barriers so federal matches are not left on the table.
