Committee Considers Bill to Address Women’s Health and Economic Opportunity

Portland, Maine - WHAT: Advocates and supporters will present testimony in support of LD 319, An Act to Strengthen the Economic Stability of Qualified Maine Citizens by Expanding Coverage of Reproductive Health Care and Family Services at a public hearing next week. The bill ensures access to critical disease prevention and essential reproductive health care including birth control for low-income women and men who desperately need health care.


WHEN: Thursday, March 26, 2015 at 1:00 PM.


WHERE: Health and Human Services Committee, Cross Office Building, room 209.


WHO: Advocates and organizations including Planned Parenthood of Northern New England, Maine Family Planning, Maine Women’s Lobby, ACLU Maine and others will testify in support of passing LD 319.


BACKGROUND
LD 319, the Women’s Health and Economic Security  Initiative, which would ensure that women
below 209% of the Federal Poverty Level would have access to critical disease prevention and essential health services including lifesaving cancer screenings, annual exams, birth control, prevention, testing and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases, breast health care, and Pap tests.


Sponsored by Representative Jay McCreight of Brunswick, the Women’s Health and Economic Opportunity Initiative directs the Department of Health and Human Services to submit a family planning state plan amendment (SPA) to the federal Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services. The SPA would provide publicly funded preventive health care to low-income adults and would be reimbursed by the federal government at a rate of $9 for every $1 of state funds.


Research has shown that two-thirds of births from unintended pregnancies were paid for by public insurance plans such as Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program. In 2006, Maine tax payers alone spent more than $11 million on just the health care costs associated with unintended pregnancy. This number grows to $33 million when the federal match is included.


Thirty states already have similar State Plan Amendments in place, providing low-income women access to essential health care and benefitting from significant cost savings in their Medicaid programs – Arkansas alone will save $75 million over 5 years and in New Hampshire, annual savings should reach $4 million in 3 years. In Maine, first year savings are estimated to be nearly $100,000 and by year three, the state could save approximately $3.3 million. Conservative estimates find that the number of unintended pregnancies in Maine will fall by 320 in the first year of implementation and 1,060 by year three. Abortions would also decrease by 320 in the same timeframe.


The rate of unintended pregnancies among women at or below the federal poverty level is more than five times the rate among women at the highest income level. A 2010 survey found that more than a third of female voters have struggled to afford prescription birth control at some point in their lives, and as a result, used birth control inconsistently.  This isn’t surprising considering costs for birth control pills typically range between $15 and $50 per month — up to $600 per year.  Long lasting, more effective methods, such as IUDs, can cost several hundred dollars.