Family planning services and supplies have been a part of the Medicaid program since it was first established half a century ago. And over the past several decades, Medicaid has become the dominant public funding source for family planning in the United States, accounting for three-quarters of that funding at last count. That should not come as a surprise, given the demographics of the population that Medicaid insures: According to unpublished tabulations of U.S. Census Bureau data, 20 percent of U.S. women of reproductive age (15–44) are enrolled in Medicaid, including 47 percent of those living below the federal poverty level.
This spring, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) turned an unprecedented amount of attention to these issues, recognizing Medicaid’s importance in enabling low-income women to access the family planning care they need. Sweeping new regulations governing the involvement of private-sector managed care plans in the Medicaid program and three additional pieces of guidance to state officials focusing exclusively on family planning together form the most comprehensive set of rules, principles, and recommendations for states that CMS has offered on the subject.
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