State’s Planned Parenthood at risk of big cuts
Planned Parenthood of California, which operates more of the organization’s health centers than any other state in the nation, would lose 73 percent of its operating budget under the health care bills that Republicans are pushing to replace the Affordable Care Act, its leaders said this week.
Planned Parenthood of Northern California, which operates 20 health centers in San Francisco, Marin, Contra Costa and other counties between the Bay Area and the Oregon border, would face budget reductions of similar proportions. That could force some clinics to close or scale back services.
Both pieces of proposed GOP legislation — one passed by the House in May, and one introduced by the Senate last week — would
end federal funding to the women’s health organization for one year. Both would do so by making Planned Parenthood ineligible to be receive federal Medicaid dollars, which comprise most of the organization’s revenue.
Planned Parenthood has long been a target of conservatives, who argue that the federal government should not fund health care providers that perform abortions, even though the procedure is paid for by state, not federal, funding. They say women can seek reproductive health services at other community health providers that do not perform abortions.
About $30 million of the Northern California chapter’s $46 million annual operating budget would be wiped out if the GOP proposal becomes law, according to Gilda Gonzales, CEO of Planned Parenthood Northern California.
“This would truly be devastating to the people who have the least access to quality health care,” Gonzales said. “In some of our most rural counties, we might be the only provider that delivers sexual and reproductive health care services in the area.”
Last year, the chapter did 12,000 cervical cancer screenings and 9,800 breast exams — 377 of which resulted in abnormal results that necessitated further testing and care. Last month, it announced that three Bay Area clinics — in Richmond, Pittsburg and Vacaville — would close by the end of June, citing the state’s low Medicaid reimbursement rates.
Planned Parenthood’s 115 centers across the state annually serve about 850,000 Californians, the majority of whom are low-income and get their insurance through the Medi-Cal program for the poor.
The Mar Monte chapter, based in San Jose, is the nation’s largest Planned Parenthood affiliate and operates 33 clinics in San Mateo, Santa Clara, Alameda and other counties. A spokeswoman for the chapter did not immediately return requests for comment, and it is not clear what portion of its federal funding would be withheld if the GOP proposal moves forward.
Crystal Strait, CEO of Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, said there is no contingency plan, and it is not known what services, and where, would be scaled back.
“If 73 percent of your operating funding is in jeopardy, it’s hard to imagine a great contingency plan that could still maintain the safety net,” she said. “Services will be cut back. What that means, we’re not sure.”