Texas is rolling out what lawmakers are calling a "new and improved" women's health program.
Senate Finance Chair Jane Nelson glowingly touted a major turnaround Monday for the star-crossed Texas Women's Health Program, rebranded as "Healthy Texas Women." The decade-old program provides pregnancy testing, family planning, immunizations and screenings for cancer and a wide variety of conditions.
The original program, created with Medicaid funds in 2005, served more than 130,000 Texas women -- roughly 40 percent by Planned Parenthood. After the Texas Legislature voted to boot Planned Parenthood from the program in 2011, the federal government shut off funding. The state attempted to go it alone with less money and fewer providers.
There were snags right off the bat. The program's website was plagued by inaccurate listings that overstated a number of providers. Lawmakers added $100 million in 2013 and another $50 million in 2015, and an interim study prior to the 2015 session resulted in relaxing qualification requirements for women and streamlining enrollment. The program now boasts a record 5,000 providers.
"The money is there. The providers are there," state Sen. Nelson (R-Flower Mound) said at a Monday news conference. "You heard the numbers. We've got 5,000 providers now committed. The missing component there is women in Texas need to know where to go."
Supporting that effort is a brand new ad campaign, complete with broadcast PSAs directing women to www.healthytexaswomen.org.
"As the Texas Health and Human Services Commission rolls out the new women's health programs, it remains to be seen whether the programs will have the capacity to meet the needs of all Texans," NARAL Pro-Choice Texas executive director Heather Busby wrote in a statement Monday.
"This is now the third time the agency has reworked the family planning safety net following dramatic funding cuts to the programs and elimination of Planned Parenthood from the programs in 2011," Busby continued. "We hope the new programs are accessible to all Texans who need family planning and preventive care service, but until the state allows all qualified providers to participate we're skeptical that the programs will fully meet Texas families' needs."
"We've got it under control now," Nelson said Monday, pointing out that all services can now be obtained from one website, www.healthytexaswomen.org. "I think we're going to do a much better job of not giving women the run-around and getting them to the services they need."