Today, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a final rule to strengthen the Title X family planning program, fulfilling the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to restore access to equitable, affordable, client-centered, quality family planning services. For more than half a century, Title X family planning clinics have played a critical role in ensuring access to a broad range of family planning and preventive health services including breast and cervical cancer screening and STI/HIV testing for than 190 million low-income or uninsured individuals. Title X is the only federal grant program dedicated solely to providing individuals with comprehensive family planning and related preventive health services.
The final rule, “Ensuring Access to Equitable, Affordable, Client-Centered, Quality Family Planning Services” realigns the nation’s family planning program with nationally recognized standards of care, reinforces the program’s emphasis on quality, equity, and dignity for all individuals who seek Title X services, and modernizes the more than 50-year old program to better reflect the current healthcare system. This new rule replaces the 2019 Title X Rule, reversing the Trump administration’s changes to the program.
“This rule is a step forward for family planning care as it aims to strengthen and restore our nation’s Title X program,” said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra. “Our nation’s family planning clinics play a critical role in delivering health care, and today more than ever, we are making clear that access to quality family planning care includes accurate information and referrals—based on a patient’s needs and direction.”
