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Title X, established in 1970 with bipartisan support, is a critical component of our public health care system, providing high-quality family planning services and other preventive health care to low-income or uninsured individuals who may otherwise lack access to health care.
There is widespread public support for expanded access to birth control: 89 percent of the voting public is in favor of public funding for family planning services.1
Had Title X funding kept pace with medical inflation since FY 1980, it would now be funded at $759 million, instead of its FY 2007 funding level of $283 million.
State, county, and local health departments run the majority (57 percent) of health centers that receive Title X funds. Family planning councils and other private, nonprofit organizations make up the rest of the Title X health center system.
Clinics receiving Title X funds not only provide quality health care services but also save the government money. Every dollar spent to provide services in the nationwide network of publicly funded family planning clinics saves $4.02 in pregnancy-related and newborn care costs to Medicaid.
Contraception prevents unintended pregnancies. The United States has one of the highest rates of unintended pregnancy among Western nations. Each year, half of the more than 6 million pregnancies in this country are unintended, and nearly half of those end in abortion. Publicly supported family planning services, such as those provided by Title X, help to prevent 1.4 million unplanned pregnancies each year, which would result in 600,000 abortions
Title X health centers primarily serve low-income women. The vast majority of Title X patients are uninsured and do not qualify for Medicaid. Sixty-seven percent of Title X clients have family incomes at or below the federal poverty level (earning less than $16,600 per year for a family of three), and therefore receive services at no cost.
The increasing number of uninsured Americans, dramatic increases in contraceptive prices, and the rising cost of new reproductive health technologies, has put an enormous financial strain on family planning health centers.
Title X is a public health success story. A 2005 government review of the Title X family planning program confirms that the program serves a unique and valuable purpose, is cost-effective, and is effectively managed.
1National Women's Law Center and Planned Parenthood Federation of America
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