According to the Wisconsin Alliance for Women’s Health, there are 52 family planning clinics in Wisconsin that serve more than 33,000 residents. Currently, these clinics operate in state family planning networks; they rely on General Purpose Revenue (GPR) funding, which enables clinics to qualify for the Maternal Child Health (MCH) block grant program through matching funds. Family planning clinics receiving MCH funds must meet the guidelines established by the federal Department of Health and Human Services through Maintenance of Effort (MOE) requirements and must provide at least 75% of their revenue in matching funds.
The state GPR funds and federal grants are used to sustain many family planning programs and the critical services they provide. GPR funds, which primarily come from individual income taxes and sales taxes, are used to ensure that low-income women are eligible for routine preventive health care, supplies, and education for successful family planning and health outcomes. As a result of the elimination of $1.9 million (per year) in GPR funds, approved by the legislature after being proposed by Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker as part of his 2011–2013 biennial budget plan (AB 40, SB 27), family planning will struggle to meet the MOE requirements for the combined MCH funding. This puts additional health services at risk (i.e., congenital care), as meeting MOE requirements allows for the continuation of federal funding and increases the clinics’ capacity to provide services that allow affordable women’s reproductive health care and perinatal and postnatal care.
Of particular concern is that Walker and his secretary of health services, Dennis Smith, have modified the MOE requirements so that they do not have relevance to the needs of maternal or child health, thus making Wisconsin ineligible for grant funding.
Although GPR and grants are not the only source of funding for clinics, such as FPHS, current estimates are that for every $1.00 invested in a public family planning clinic, the states saves $4.00 that otherwise would be used for births reliant on medical assistance (MA). RxSocialChange is urging you to take action!
References:
http://legis.wisconsin.gov/lfb/2011-13%20Budget/Budget%20Papers/366.pdf
http://www.jsonline.com/business/121219724.html
http://www.wiawh.org/media/documents/pdf/2011_WAWH_Budget_Analysis%205.11.11.pdf
http://www.fphs.org/pdfs/News_release_050211.pdf
http://www.fphs.org/pdfs/HHSLetter.pdf
