California Must Boost Funds for Family Planning Clinics

"Compared to other states, California has long been a leader in providing reproductive health care and preventing unplanned pregnancies," but funding for these services in recent years has not "kept pace with rising medical costs and the state's population," a Sacramento Bee editorial states.

According to the Bee, family planning services "can prevent unwanted pregnancies, protect the health of women and help low-income families with vital prenatal care."

One million women in California receive such services from clinics, but Planned Parenthood, a key provider of these services, argues that "clinics haven't received a significant increase in Medi-Cal rate reimbursements since 1984," the editorial states.

"California faces another budget crunch this year," but lawmakers must consider "the long-term costs of shortchanging family planning and reproductive health."

Planned Parenthood and family planning clinics this year are seeking a $12 million increase in the Medi-Cal reimbursement rate, which is "a reasonable request," according to the editorial. "Even in this tough year of choices, lawmakers should be able to find a way to fund it in a $104 billion budget," the editorial concludes (Sacramento Bee, 6/12).