Senate’s Proposed Budget Could Affect Planned Parenthood’s Role in Cancer Screening Program
AUSTIN-Funding for Planned Parenthood’s participation in the Breast and Cervical Cancer Screening program could be reduced or eliminated as a result of changes to the funding mechanism proposed in the Senate’s first draft of the 2016-2017 budget, released Tuesday.
The proposed budget, which serves as a starting point for discussion and negotiations among lawmakers, would create a tiered system to allocate cancer screening funds to the program’s contractors.
The revised system would prioritize public and government run health centers that provide breast and cervical cancer screening over private or non-profit clinics that offer “comprehensive primary and preventative care.” Private or non-profit clinics that provide specialized family planning services, like Planned Parenthood, would receive the lowest priority for funding.
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