Publicly funded family planning organizations still played an important role in providing services to both insured and uninsured patients after enactment of the Massachusetts health reform law, according to a study published Jan. 23 in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
Prior to the 2006 implementation of the state’s health reform, 59% of patients who received services at Title X family planning clinics were uninsured. After enactment, that number decreased somewhat, eventually leveling off at around 36%, Marion Carter of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and her colleague wrote.
During 2012, Title X–funded clinics in Massachusetts provided care to 66,227 clients, or about 90% of the volume seen before the 2006 law (MMWR 2014;63:59-62).
"Publicly funded providers continued to be used as providers of choice for many clients with health care coverage and remained as a ‘safety net’ for uninsured persons in need of family planning services," according to the researchers.
The reasons that insured persons would continue to use Title X family planning clinics are unclear, the researchers said, but could include misunderstanding about their insurance coverage or the desire to keep the use of family planning services out of their health insurance records.
"The continued provision of safety-net family planning services is important not just for the individual clients accessing services at these organizations but for broader health equity goals as well," since young adults experience the most unintended pregnancies of any age group in the United States.
The researchers pointed out that other states may see a stronger and continued demand for services than they would have expected given the continued rollout of the Affordable Care Act.
"Public health agencies are encouraged to track such trends to monitor the demand for such services and inform budget planning and resource allocation," they said.
The researchers disclosed no relevant conflicts of interest.