Dianne Feinstein: “I rise today with Senator Chafee to introduce a bill to give States the flexibility to provide family planning services…”

“I rise today with Senator Chafee to introduce a bill to give States the flexibility to provide family planning services to low-income women who do not qualify for Medicaid. Under current law, in order to qualify for family planning services provided by the Medicaid program, a women would either have to have children and an income level below a threshold set by the State, ranging from 15-86 percent of the Federal poverty level, or be pregnant and have an income up to 133 percent of the poverty level; Federal law allows States to raise this income eligibility level to 185 percent, if they desire. If a woman qualifies because of pregnancy, she is automatically eligible for family planning services for 60 days following delivery. After those 60 days, the woman's Medicaid eligibility expires. If a State wants to provide Medicaid family planning services to additional populations of low-income women, they must apply to the Federal Government for a waiver. Currently, 18 States have waivers approved by the Federal Government. The waiver process is extremely cumbersome and time consuming, often taking up to three years to receive approval from the Federal Government. This bill would once and for all allow States to provide crucial family planning to low-income women under the Medicaid program.”