These and other presenters provided facts that were used for the second ask to the senators and representatives: Medicaid is a women’s health success story. Don’t turn the clock back on women’s health. There was not a specific bill to endorse, but the goal was to endorse continued Medicaid funding for women’s health. Medicaid covers 42.6% of U.S. births and around 75% of public family planning dollars. For every $1 spent for family planning by Medicaid there is a savings of $7.09. Medicaid expansion reduced the uninsured rate among women aged 18-64 years by nearly half from 19.3% to 10.8% in 5 years.
It has been documented that girls enrolled in Medicaid as children are more likely to attend college and experience upward mobility than their peers with the same socioeconomic status who did not have Medicaid. Medicaid helps to provide financial stability and serve as the pathway to jobs for women and girls. Nearly 80% of Medicaid beneficiaries live in working families, and 60% themselves work. Of those who don’t work, 36% do not work because of disability or illness, 30% care for home or family, 15% are in school, 9% are retired, and 6% could not find work. Work requirements add administrative complexity for states and women without long-term gains in employment.
Qualified providers should not be prevented from participating in Medicaid because they perform abortions or provide counseling or refer patients for abortion. Politicians should not select among qualified providers at the expense of women’s access to care. Very often, there are no other providers who can fill the gap, leaving low-income women without access to care.
Willie Parker, MD, addressed reproductive rights and access to care at the President’s Luncheon.