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Texas Women's Health Funding
The Texas Women's Healthcare Coalition (TWHC) is excited and hopeful about the 2013 Texas Legislature's commitment to funding women's preventive healthcare. Both the House and Senate budget bills increase funding, and the House version would fully restore access to family planning for the 147,000 women who lost it in 2011, as shown in this graphic:
Both House and Senate bills continue the Texas Women's Health Program, which lost its 90% federal funding in January 2012, with the exclusion of Planned Parenthood clinics from the program.
Both bills also increase funding of the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) Community Primary Care program to expand access to women's preventive care. It is anticipated that this $100 million "Primary Health Care Expansion" will provide family planning and screenings to 100,000 additional women around the state.
The House version of the budget would also add $32.1 million to the DSHS Family Planning program, which was cut so dramatically two years ago. This increase would replace the Title X funding, which is now awarded to the non-profit Women's Health and Family Planning Association of Texas.
The budget process is now in Conference Committee, and the conferees will reconcile the differences between the two chambers' bills. Once out of the Conference Committee, the budget bill then goes to both House and Senate for an up-or-down vote. If passed by both, it then goes to the Governor for signature before becoming law.
For a detailed discussion comparing the House and Senate bills with regard to family planning, including the Riders that TWHC supports, read the excellent article by Stacey Pogue of the Center for Public Policy Priorities.
The Texas Women's Healthcare Coalition (TWHC) was formed in response to the deep and disproportionate funding cuts made to family planning by the 2011 Texas Legislature. A project of Healthy Futures of Texas, TWHC has 39 members, including healthcare, public policy, and faith-based organizations.
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