The Texas Women’s Health Program is part of the Medicaid program in Texas. Legislators in Texas did an efficient job of gutting the program, but some of it still exists. Women who qualify will have difficultly finding a doctor who works with this program, and the state won’t cover care done at Planned Parenthood.
Medicaid is a public, or government run, form of health insurance. It is designed to provide health insurance to people who are low-income and who cannot afford to buy health insurance from a private company. Typically, Medicaid programs like the Texas Women’s Health Program would be funded by both the federal government and the state government. However, decisions made by Texas legislators have resulted in the end of the federal funds for this program.
When you go to the website for the Texas Women’s Health Program (WHP) you will see a little blurb that starts with: “Heard About the Texas Women’s Health Program?” It continues with:
“There’s been a lot of talk about what’s happening with the Texas Women’s Health Program. It still provides low-income women with family planning services and annual exams. Use this website to learn more about how to apply for the program and to find a doctor or clinic where you can get services”.
There is no information on the website about what has happened with the program. The state of Texas lost the federal funds for this program when legislators specifically chose to exclude Planned Parenthood from receiving the funding for it.
This means that women who use WHP are not allowed to go to Planned Parenthood to receive women’s health care. Planned Parenthood is the largest provider of health care to low-income women in Texas, so Texas pretty much gutted their program when they chose to exclude Planned Parenthood from it.
This means that women who are eligible for WHP are going to have difficulty finding a doctor who will see patients who are covered by this Medicaid program. It also means that there is a very limited amount of funding for the program now. The federal government was providing 90% of the funding.
To be eligible for WHP, women must be between the ages of 18 and 44. They can apply the month that they turn 18. The woman must be a United States citizen or a legal immigrant, and must live in Texas. Women who are not pregnant, or are sterile, or who are infertile, are ineligible. Women who receive full Medicaid benefits, CHIP, or Medicare are not eligible. Women must also make less than the monthly family income limits listed on the website.
WHP covers one family planning exam each year. This might include a pap smear, screening for breast and cervical cancers, diabetes, sexually transmitted diseases, and high blood pressure. “Family planning counseling education, which can include natural family planning and abstinence”. It also covers several types of birth control, (but I don’t see Implanon, the one I use, on the list). Follow-up family planning visits that are related to your method of birth control are covered.
In italics, in a separate paragraph, it notes that WHP “Does not include emergency birth control”. It also won’t cover treatment for an STD, diabetes, or cancer. Women who need that type of health care will have to pay extra for those services.
Image by Nate Grigg on Flickr