The number of low-income people accessing highly effective birth control in Texas health programs has declined for the second year in a row, according to new data covering the accounting period that ended last August. That was just when the state’s new six-week abortion ban went into effect.
Two programs in state-administered reproductive health services, Healthy Texas Women and Family Planning, saw intrauterine device and contraceptive implant use decrease 21% from the previous fiscal year. It has decreased by about 30% overall since FY2019.
Declining access to long-acting contraceptives will make it harder to prevent unwanted pregnancies, prompting legislative efforts to cut off access to abortion for nearly 7 million Texans of childbearing age. It happened when I was IUDs and implants are more likely to prevent pregnancy than condoms or other short-term birth control methods.
“The decline is definitely a concern,” said Diana Forrester, director of health policy at Texans Care for Children. You will want to understand if there is
Without access to abortion, the demand for long-acting contraceptives will only increase. But research shows the state has struggled for years to meet existing demand. Many women do not have access to their preferred method of contraception, and providers often cannot perform same-day insertion due to the high cost of device inventory. IUDs can cost him hundreds of dollars each.
Health researchers said it’s too early to know exactly what’s behind the decline, but said it doesn’t necessarily mean fewer people are using these birth control methods. . Many women who became pregnant during the pandemic remain on Medicaid under temporary federal protection and are eligible for long-acting birth control through their coverage.
Still, Kari White, who leads the Texas Policy Assessment Project at the University of Texas at Austin, said in the early days of the pandemic, many health care providers were understaffed or focused on other health care responses, so other health care providers could not. data show a similar decline.
In fiscal 2020, Medicaid saw a roughly 22% decline in IUD and implant placements, including in the first months of the pandemic, according to data from the Texas Board of Health and Human Services. Data for fiscal 2021 are not yet available.
“All we know is what was going on with the numbers,” White said. You don’t necessarily know if you’ve had it or not, and if you don’t want to get pregnant, it could affect your chances of getting pregnant.”
Martha Zuniga, who runs clinics in and around Corpus Christi, said health care providers struggled with staff shortages early in the pandemic and took time to coordinate in-person appointments. Health departments and hospitals have also been forced to redirect resources to treating her COVID-19 patients.
A spokeswoman for the state health agency said the pandemic “continues to impact enrollment and utilization.”
The Texas legislature passed a six-week abortion ban last spring. It went into effect on Sept. 1 after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to intervene. The Superior Court has since overturned federal abortion protection, wiping out nearly all access in Texas.
Lawmakers responded to challenges in access to contraception last year by expanding Medicaid for new mothers from two to six months. expanding over the years.
From March 2020 to May of this year, the number of pregnant patients and new mothers on Medicaid increased from 3.9 million to 5.4 million. Health advocates said many of these patients should return to state-run programs when the federal health emergency ends. Now extended to October 13th.
Erika Ramirez, director of policy and advocacy for the Texas Women’s Healthcare Coalition, said: “Thus, programs like Healthy Texas Women and Family Planning Programs need to be ready to handle that increase.”
jeremy.blackman@chron.com
