Texas Medicaid Family Planning Services
How do Texas Medicaid family planning services compare with other states?
Access to family planning allows women to prevent unintended pregnancies, space pregnancies, and plan their family size.
Family planning is unique among Medicaid covered services, as the federal government pays 90% of the cost of all services and supplies for all states. This is an important incentive for states to make coverage for family planning services as broad as possible. In addition providers and health care plans are not permitted to charge any out-of-pocket costs to Medicaid patients for family planning services or supplies.
State Medicaid Coverage of Family Planning Services
Summary of State Survey Findings Nov. 2009 Kaiser Family Foundation and George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services.
What family planning services are offered to Texas Medicaid patients? How do these services compare to the same services provided by other states? 44 states, including Texas, responded to the Kaiser survey:
KEY: √ = Always considered family planning service; S = Sometimes considered family planning service, depending on context of visit; / = Never considered family planning service; X = Not covered at all.
The Medicaid Family Planning Waiver Program allows the state to extend Medicaid eligibility for family planning services to large numbers of individuals whose incomes are above the state-set income eligibility levels to qualify for Medicaid enrollment. Once approval of a family planning waiver is secured, the state may claim federal reimbursement for 90% of the costs of providing family planning services and supplies to the expansion population.
Texas’s family planning waiver to extend the eligible population was approved in December 2006 and will expire in December 2011. The eligibility criterion is based solely on income level.
Coverage under the Family Planning Waiver Program
23 states have a family planning waiver program. Texas approval date: 12/06; Texas expiration date 12/11; eligibility based on income only.
KEY: √ = covered by state Medicaid waiver program