Candidate Notes on 06-S2916

06-S2916 on May 19, 2006

OFFICIAL CONGRESSIONAL SUMMARY: Amends Medicaid to:

1. prohibit a state from providing for medical coverage unless it includes certain family planning services and supplies; and
2. include women who are not pregnant but who meet income eligibility standards in a mandatory "categorically needy" group for family planning services purposes.

EXCERPTS OF BILL:

Congress makes the following findings:
1. Rates of unintended pregnancy increased by nearly 30% among low-income women between 1994 and 2002, and a low-income woman today is 4 times as likely to have an unintended pregnancy as her higher income counterpart.
2. Abortion rates decreased among higher income women but increased among low income women in that period, and a low income woman is more than 4 times as likely to have an abortion as her higher income counterpart.
3. Contraceptive use reduces a woman's probability of having an abortion by 85%.

Levels of contraceptive use among low-income women at risk of unintended pregnancy declined significantly, from 92% to 86%.

Publicly funded contraceptive services have been shown to prevent 1,300,000 unintended pregnancies each year, and in the absence of these services the abortion rate would likely be 40% higher than it is.

By helping couples avoid unintended pregnancy, Medicaid-funded contraceptive services are highly cost-effective, and every public dollar spent on family planning saves $3 in the cost of pregnancy-related care alone.The Social Security Act is amended by adding [to the Medicaid section] the following: COVERAGE OF FAMILY PLANNING SERVICES AND SUPPLIES -- a State may not provide for medical coverage unless that coverage includes family planning services and supplies.

LEGISLATIVE OUTCOME:Referred to Senate Committee on Finance; never came to a vote.

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