Kelly Baden, VP for Public Policy, warns that a proposed reconciliation bill would slash Medicaid and shutter Planned Parenthood, debunking claims that FQHCs could replace its essential reproductive health services.
Federally qualified health centers in the US can't replace Planned Parenthood
Transcript: In the US, conservative members of Congress are advancing a reconciliation bill that would drastically cut Medicaid and aims to shutter Planned Parenthood health centers.
These lawmakers are putting tax cuts for the wealthy over the lives and well-being of millions of people. They claim federally qualified health centers, or FQHCs, can readily take over the care Planned Parenthood provides, but that's simply not true.
FQHCs cannot replace Planned Parenthood. Guttmacher data show that if Planned Parenthood were excluded from federal programs like Medicaid, FQHCs would need to increase their capacity to see patients who want birth control by 56%. That's over 1 million additional patients.
It's just not feasible, especially since the bill would also create new challenges for nearly all healthcare providers, making it even harder for them to meet their current demand. FQHCs are essential to our healthcare system. They provide comprehensive, community-based primary care and support services to people with limited access to health care. But to suggest they could replace Planned Parenthood? That's not based on facts, it's based on political ideology.
Planned Parenthood delivers essential, high-quality reproductive health care. Millions of people depend on it. We cannot afford to lose it.