New Hampshire Reproductive Health Care Providers Outline Negative Impact if Executive Council Votes to Reject Family Planning Program Contracts

CONCORD - On Wednesday, December 22, contracts for family planning providers will be considered at New Hampshire’s Executive Council meeting (#41C), including for three reproductive health providers whose contracts were rejected in September - Planned Parenthood of Northern New England; Equality Health Center; and Lovering Health Center. 

This vote comes quickly on the heels of the Council’s September 4-1 vote to defund the health centers through December 31, 2021, a six-month contract period. The vote on December 22 is a contract period for the next 24 months, from January 1, 2022 until December 31, 2023. 

At stake with these contracts is over 1 million dollars in state and federal funds to help these providers support their efforts to provide quality, affordable health care for any Granite Stater, regardless of income. This funding helps pay for programs such as the sliding scale fee for patients seeking birth control, STD testing and treatment, and cancer screenings. This funding has historically been a part of the state of New Hampshire’s obligation in supporting better public health outcomes for lower income individuals. 

Before the Executive Council Family Planning Contract Vote, Equality Health Center, Lovering Health Center, and PPNNE released the following statements:

“Equality Health Center, Lovering Health Center, and Planned Parenthood of Northern New England are trusted community health care providers and family planning experts. Together, we provide care for approximately 80 percent of the Granite Staters served through the state Family Planning Program; without these contracts, access to care for those individuals is jeopardized. We are fighting to keep our doors open, but without these funds, patients will be impacted as we remove our sliding scale fee for some services,” said Dalia Vidunas, Executive Director of Equality Health Center. 

"The Family Planning Program - and all its providers - have helped to build strong maternal health outcomes, including New Hampshire’s lowest unintended pregnancies and teen pregnancy rates in the country. Health care providers and state public health officials agree - rejection of these contracts jeopardizes that system of care and the health and wellbeing of Granite Staters,” said Sandi Denoncour, Executive Director of Lovering Health Center. 

Kayla Montgomery, Vice President for Public Affairs at Planned Parenthood of Northern New England stated, “This vote is an opportunity for the Executive Council to fix their mistake and fully fund family planning services for lower-income and marginalized people across the state. A “no” vote on this contract would demonstrate they are putting personal politics over the people of our state and public health. With our hospitals overwhelmed, now, more than ever, we need a strong health care network - reproductive health providers are an integral part of that infrastructure.” 

BACKGROUND:

The 24-Month Family Planning Contracts:

• Agenda #41C - a total of $2,055,498 in Family Planning Program funding: 

  • A total of $1,020,329 in contracts will be voted on for the three reproductive health providers:

    • Equality Health Center (Concord) - $558,395

    • Lovering Health Center (Greenland) - $336,934

    • Planned Parenthood of Northern New England (Claremont, Manchester, Keene, Derry, and Exeter) - $125,000

  • The remaining $1,035,169 in Family Planning Program contracts are allocated for organizations that do not offer abortion care at their health centers:

    • Amoskeag Health (Manchester) - $335,512

    • Coos County Family Health (Berlin) - $268,152

    • Lamprey Health Care (Nashua) - $431,505

Trump’s Gag Rule:

• The splitting of these contracts was because the Trump Administration had previously gagged federal funds. The Biden administration has officially unwound the gag rule.

• Most New Hampshire family planning providers have not received federal Title X family planning funds since 2019 due to the Trump administration’s gag rule. The Biden administration and New Hampshire’s federal delegation have worked to reverse this policy, but federal funding will not return to the states until spring of 2022 at the earliest. 

• The FY 20-21 state budget contained backfill funding to mitigate the impact of President Trump’s harmful Title X gag rule, but New Hampshire budget writers rejected efforts to add backfill funds into the current state budget. 

• There is no provision in HB2 that requires physical separation of abortion services in order to receive Family Planning funding. The language is clear: here is Senator Bradley's introduction and explanation (video begins when he begins) of this new provision, which he introduced in this amendment) in the Committee of Conference. In the video, Senator Bradley says that this a moment of “trust, but verify” that commingling of funds is not happening and that he intended for funds to continue to go to reproductive health facilities, without delay. Prior to his amendment, Rep. Jess Edwards introduced an amendment that would have required physical and financial separation in order to receive state funds. However, Rep. Edwards’s amendment was not adopted.

• In September, the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services confirmed what family planning providers have been saying all along: that no New Hampshire family planning dollars go toward abortion care. DHHS stated unequivocally, multiple times, that the financial reviews, which took place over the course of the summer, clearly showed that no Family Planning funds have been used for abortion.

NH Family Planning Program Impact:

• New Hampshire has the lowest unintended pregnancies and teen pregnancy rates in the country and some of the best maternal health outcomes; the New Hampshire Family Planning Program is part of the network of care that supports these positive measures.

• During an October Executive Council discussion over family planning funding, Councilor Cinde Warmington and DHHS Commissioner Shibinette highlighted the fragility of New Hampshire’s positive maternal/fetal health outcomes and the impact the defund votes could have. Full transcript here.

Planned Parenthood of Northern New England Care Delivery:

• In 2020, nearly 10,000 Granite Staters relied on PPNNE’s five health centers for high-quality, affordable health care. 

• In November, PPNNE was named a 2021 Guardian of Excellence Award® winner by Press Ganey, the national leader in health care consumer and workforce engagement. Press Ganey recognizes PPNNE as a top-performing health care organization, achieving the 95th percentile or above for performance in patient experience, out of more than 20,000 medical practices. 

Previous PPNNE Contract Votes:

• Three times in recent years (2011 and 2015 and 2021), the care provided at local Planned Parenthood health centers was jeopardized when contracts were blocked by the Executive Council and state funding was interrupted. 

• Then Councilor Chris Sununu was the deciding vote to defund PPNNE in 2015. 

• Contracts were consistently approved between June of 2016 and September of 2021, with bipartisan support.