Planned Parenthoods and Supporters Ask Congress to Protect Women's Health Care in National Health Care Reform

ALBANY, NY (07/14/2009)(readMedia)-- Upper Hudson Planned Parenthood (UHPP), Planned Parenthood Mohawk Hudson (PPMH) and Family Planning Advocates of New York State (FPA) gathered with supporters today to announce priorities for national health care reform-a topic they will address with members of Congress in Washington, D.C. later this week.

Planned Parenthood's primary goals for health care reform are two-fold: 1) expanding coverage for comprehensive reproductive health care services; and 2) ensuring that essential community providers like Planned Parenthood are included in health plan networks.

Comprehensive coverage. "We have to make sure comprehensive reproductive health care services are included in any health care reform plan. The women of New York and the nation must be better off- and certainly not worse off-after national health care reform than they are today," said UHPP President and CEO Patricia McGeown.

Earlier this year, Congress stripped family planning benefits from the stimulus bill. "Too often it seems that women's health care is the first thing to be discarded. We will not stand by while essential services are restricted or taken away," McGeown said.

"There needs to be a clear understanding that reproductive health care is essential primary care for women of all ages including: routine gynecological exams; Pap smears and breast exams to detect cancer; colposcopy and cryosurgery; contraceptive information and supplies; prenatal care; testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections; abortion care; and HIV testing and counseling. Reproductive health care providers like Planned Parenthood also serve as critical gatekeepers, providing blood pressure testing and screening for diabetes and other conditions which, undetected and untreated, may lead to serious health consequences and add to the skyrocketing costs of health care," she explained.

Community-based providers. "We're also carrying the message to Washington that health care reform must include community-based health care providers, like Planned Parenthood, in the network of health insurance plans," said Paul Drisgula, co-president, Planned Parenthood Mohawk Hudson.

Community providers serve as a critical entry point into the health care system for millions of women and families. And, with the economic downturn, community health providers have seen an increase in patients. "For many women, the only doctor or nurse they see is the one they visit at a health center like Planned Parenthood," Drisgula said.

One in four women who receives contraceptive care does so at a women's health center. One in six women who obtains a Pap test or a pelvic exam does so at a women's health center. One in three women who receives counseling, testing, or treatment for sexually transmitted infections, including HIV, does so at a women's health center.

"Planned Parenthood is part of an important network of community providers that must continue to be accessible to patients in the health care reform plan," Drisgula stressed. "Other important community health care providers include local health departments, hospital outpatient clinics, and independent family planning centers."

400 advocates converge on the Capitol; thousands of constituents call D.C. These two regional Planned Parenthoods join a state and national campaign in mobilizing thousands of supporters to protect access to reproductive health care services and community health care providers. In the last week, citizens across New York made more than 2,500 calls into the offices of Congressional members with the message that Women's Health Matters!

Tomorrow, Family Planning Advocates of New York State will lead a contingent of 50 Planned Parenthood advocates, including teens and college students, to Washington, D.C. "We'll join 400 Planned Parenthood advocates from across the country for a multi-day conference and a national lobby day on Health Care Reform," said Vice President for Government Affairs of Family Planning Advocates Carol Blowers.

"We will meet with Senators Schumer and Gillibrand and a host of members of Congress from New York State to hit home the point that reproductive health care services-for women of all ages-and access to community-based health care are crucial components of the final health care reform plan," Blowers said. Advocates from New York State will conduct some of the 240 meetings Planned Parenthood advocates have planned while in Washington, D.C. "This is a record number of visits-a clear indication of the importance Americans place on women's health care," Blowers stressed.

More than 20 amendments have been introduced in Congressional committees working on health care reform bills that would reduce or restrict access to reproductive health services or access to community based women's health care providers. "On the plus side, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee just passed a Women's Health Amendment, which would require that essential community providers, such as Planned Parenthood, be part of the health care reform plan," Blowers said.

Blowers read from a statement of support from Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, "I look forward to working in partnership with Planned Parenthood to craft meaningful health care reform that protects and improves the quality of care for all women. And, as a woman, a mother and a lawmaker, I am proud to support Planned Parenthood as they continue to offer crucial services to women and families across the country."

"We are calling on all residents in the greater Capital Region who care about women's health to join us in sending this important message to Congress: Women's Health Matters!," Blowers urged. Details are available at www.womenshealthmattersny.org.