Govs. Ned Lamont of Connecticut and Kathy Hochul of New York have joined with the governors of 17 other states to push the Trump administration to renew Title X health care funding it has been dragging its feet on.
In a joint letter, the governors told U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., that Title X needs to be renewed now, warning that a lapse in funding will cut off access to critical health care for millions of Americans.
Title X funds are federal grants authorized by the 1970 Public Health Service Act, providing low-to-no-cost, confidential family planning and preventive health services to millions of individuals in the U.S., particularly those with low incomes or no insurance. These funds support services like contraception, STI testing, and cancer screenings but are legally prohibited from paying for abortions.
The funding currently is set to expire this coming Tuesday, March 31. The governors are calling for at least a one-year funding extension, ensuring no lapse in services for patients who rely on the program.
“Title X services are extremely cost effective, saving $7 in Medicaid-related expenses for every dollar spent and successful at improving overall health, including by helping people avoid pregnancies they do not want and plan and space pregnancies they do want, which decreases the risk of complications like preterm birth and low-birth-weight births,” the governors told Kennedy in their letter. “In addition to contraceptive care, Title X-funded clinics also provide a wide range of other critical health services, such as cancer screenings, STI and HIV testing, cardiovascular health checks and referrals to primary care. OPA and other experts have also long recognized that for many Title X patients, Title X services are the only health care services they receive all year.”
The governors pointed out that in the past HHS itself had praised the Title X program saying, “The Title X family planning program is a critical part of America’s public health safety net, serving as a point of entry into care for nearly 195 million over the program’s more than 50-year history. . . Title X family planning clinics have played a critical role in ensuring access to a broad range of family planning and preventive health services.”
The governors noted that patients through Title X receive care at a network of health care providers, including federally qualified health centers, public health departments, hospitals and community-based clinics.
Separately, 39 U.S. Senators also sent a letter to Kennedy urging continued Title X funding.
