Low-Income Women's Access to Family Planning

Title X of the Public Health Service Act provides federal grant money to family planning clinics that provide comprehensive reproductive-health services to low-income women, uninsured women, and women who fail to qualify for Medicaid.  For many women, Title X clinics provide the only basic health care that they receive.  

Each year, approximately 5 million young and low-income women and men receive basic health care through the 4,400 clinics nationwide receiving Title X funds.  Grants are administrated through state health departments or regional umbrella agencies which subcontract to local agencies.  

Besides providing contraceptive methods, counseling, and education, family-planning clinics offer many other reproductive-health services.  They provide screening for breast cancer, cervical cancer, and sexually transmitted diseases; Pap tests; breast and pelvic exams; hypertension and blood-pressure measurement; as well as prenatal, postpartum and well-baby care.

The Title X program also sponsors continuing-education programs for family-planning clinicians each year. In addition, the program maintains a clearinghouse for information and educational materials on family planning and reproductive health, and supports a research program which focuses on family-planning service delivery improvements.   Office of Population Affairs (OPA), U.S. Department of Health and Human Service3s (HHS), Office of Family Planning, at http://opa.osophs.dhhs.gov/titlex/ofp.html (last visited Dec. 5, 2008).

Women with incomes at or below the poverty level receive fully subsidized services; women with incomes over 100 but less than 250 percent of the poverty level are charged on a sliding scale; and women with incomes over 250 percent of poverty must be charged full fees.  AGI, Issues in Brief:  Title X ad the U.S. Family Planning Effort, at 2 & 4; see also 45 Fed. Reg. 108 (1980) (codified at 42 C.F.R. § 59.5(7), (8), § 59.2).