“Texas built up the women’s health care safety net over the course of 40 years but tore it down in just two years.”
B said. The state is in a prime position — a $200 million position 22 TEXAS MEDICINE November 2013
y the time patients see obstetrician-gynecologist Lisa Hollier, MD, the opportunity for preventive care has passed. The high-risk Medicaid patients she predominantly sees are already pregnant and often suffer from a sexually transmitted infection
(STI), chronic disease, or other complicating condition. “When I ask patients if the pregnancy was planned, they of- ten answer no. Access to preventive care is the biggest problem for low-income women,” said Dr. Hollier, chair of the Texas District of the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gyne- cologists (ACOG). Dr. Hollier practices in Houston, and like many Texas pri-
mary care physicians, she strives to provide first-rate care to women who have fallen through the state’s tattered health care safety net. “To have healthy babies, the moms need to be healthy,” she
— to improve access to preventive health care for low-income women through restored funding for women’s health programs. Thanks to successful legislative advocacy by the Texas Medical Association and other organizations, the Texas Legislature ap- propriated $174 million in state funds for 2014–15 for preven- tive services. Additionally, clinics led by the Women’s Health and Family Planning Association of Texas will receive $26 mil- lion in federal grants. Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) Com- missioner David Lakey, MD, says a comprehensive approach to family planning and preventive health care will help physi- cians improve the health of women. “This funding will help reduce unintended pregnancies and will help physicians address women’s chronic diseases and other health issues prior to pregnancy,” Dr. Lakey said. Texas can restore access to preventive care for the approxi- mately 120,000 women who lost it following devastating cuts to the Texas family planning program in 2011. That year, the
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