People who use Medicaid would no longer be able to get their health care through Planned Parenthood under President Trump's domestic agenda bill.
Rebecca Gibron is the CEO of Planned Parenthood's largest geographical affiliate that covers Alaska, Hawaiʻi, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, and Washington — also known as PPGNHAIK. She stated that about one-third of the organization's patients in Hawaiʻi get their insurance through Medicaid.
“Without Planned Parenthood, patients will be forced to delay access to preventive life-saving care, or more likely, may forgo it all together,” Gibron said.
“There aren't other safety net providers who can simply absorb Planned Parenthood patients. The reality is, lives are very much at risk. There will be entire regions across the country that will suffer.”
On Page 579 in the Senate version of the bill's “Federal Payments to Prohibited Entities” section, Planned Parenthood falls under the list of organizations that would become inaccessible to patients who rely on Medicaid.
Nationally, there are about 71 million Medicaid users, according to the program's data from March. With the bill's proposed work eligibility requirements, an estimated 12 million people could lose their insurance, resulting in them losing their previous access to health care.
Each year, Planned Parenthood provides roughly 9 million services to about 2 million patients across the country, with over half relying on publicly or federally funded programs, like Medicaid, for their health care.
Gibron believes the organization is being attacked primarily because it offers abortion care. She stated that this move invalidates the other work done by the organization, like cancer screenings, breast health exams, HPV vaccines, and STI treatment.
She added that many Planned Parenthood services can save Hawaiʻi money, roughly $3 million annually, by offering preventative care to help avoid bigger operations and procedures later.
“Despite their talking points, defunding Planned Parenthood won't save taxpayers a single dime,” Gibron said.
Jennifer M. Allen is the CEO of Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates for PPGNHAIK. She emphasized that defunding the organization will result in patients turning to more expensive alternatives or waiting too long, letting issues develop rather than catching them early on.
“Some of the most frequent emergency room visits that we see across the country are for things like a urinary tract infection that has not been treated and has developed into a very extensive infection and put people in horrible agony,” Allen said.
“It would also force them into an emergency room, which provides much, much more expensive care than simply getting it treated up front by a trusted provider, which is what Planned Parenthood is.”
Allen stated that the consequences from this bill could be “more deadly for Hawaiʻi than elsewhere,” explaining that rural areas and communities of color, who often already have strained access to health care, will get hit the hardest.
“When we talk about the health safety net, we’re talking about people that have the most limited access to health care, and often the worst health care outcomes,” Gibron said. “If it prohibits patients on Medicaid from accessing care at Planned Parenthood, that creates less access to health care, not more.”
The Republican megabill passed in the Senate and will be heard again by the House.
But the fight isn't over for Allen and Gibron. They said they will continue to provide care for every patient and are encouraging them not to let fear overtake their right to health care.
“We know we're a critical part of the health care system that (Hawaiʻi) depends on, and that many of those patients don't have anywhere else to go for their care,” Allen said. “We're going to do everything we can to serve every patient that comes to our doors. We won’t stop fighting.”
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