0518 cppppftexas

Emails, Oliver Bernstein, communications director, Center for Public Policy Priorities, May 9, 11 and 30, 2018

From: Selby, Gardner

Sent: Wednesday, May 09, 2018 2:55 PM

Good afternoon. I am fact-checking a candidate’s claim that after Texas cut its two-year family planning budget by $73 million, “one in four clinics closed their doors.”

Does the CPPP have information bearing on this claim’s accuracy?

We’re interested in the degree to which the family planning budget was cut and whether one in four clinics closed.

As ever, we count on attributable on-the-record information for our stories. We are trying to complete this review by Friday.

Thanks,

Want our fact checks first? Follow us on Twitter.

W. Gardner Selby

Reporter / News

Austin American-Statesman

PolitiFact Texas

3:06 p.m.

May 9, 2018

Thanks for asking.

Here’s the UT Texas Policy Evaluation Project press release about the study published in the American Journal of Public Health

https://liberalarts.utexas.edu/txpep/releases/ajph2015-release.php

Laura Dixon is the best contact for the group:

...

From: Selby, Gardner (CMG-Austin)

Sent: Friday, May 11, 2018 1:58 PM

Hello again. Thanks to Oliver’s nudge, we connected with Laura Dixon. She emailed us, as you’ll see here, and the provided statement refers to and characterizes CPPP’s more recent analysis.

Anything more you’d suggest we consider as we evaluate the candidate’s May 2018 claim? Other expert resources?

As before, we count on attributable on-the-record information for our stories.

Thanks,

Want our fact checks first? Follow us on Twitter.

W. Gardner Selby

Reporter / News

Austin American-Statesman

PolitiFact Texas

From: Oliver Bernstein Sent: Friday, May 11, 2018 2:59 PM

There are no other sources that we know of for that specific data point. It was from the 2015 article written by TxPEP.

If TxPEP hasn’t updated its number, then we're not sure what other data we can point you to.

From: Selby, Gardner (CMG-Austin)

Sent: Friday, May 11, 2018 4:27 PM

Any clarification on the professor’s uncertainty about whether the CPPP issue brief’s reference to the program “refers to any cost reimbursement funding stream for family planning or just that now known as the Family Planning Program?”

As the professor notes, the center’s brief indicates the state was contracting with 258 family planning clinics in 2017 compared to about 290 before the cuts legislated in 2011. Is it accurate to say that the number of clinics in 2017 was down 32, or 11 percent, from before the cuts were legislated? If not, what would be accurate?

Did the HHSC make public relevant figures on May 1, as discussed in the issue brief?

Thanks again,

From: Selby, Gardner (CMG-Austin)

Sent: Tuesday, May 29, 2018 5:47 PM

You asked if I’d gotten what we needed for our fact-check of the claim.

It wasn’t clear to me if you’d had a chance to assess the question in my May 11 email below. To revisit: It looks to me like the center’s April 2018 issue brief contains figures supporting the conclusion that as of September 2017, the 258 Texas clinics with government-funded family planning services was down by 32, or 11 percent, compared to the 290 clinics offering such services before the spending cuts and other decisions by lawmakers in 2011. Am I reading the center’s analysis accurately? If not, what would be accurate?

That brief preceded HHSC’s post of this report. Knowing what we’re fact-checking, anything seem particularly relevant? We might not be able to use the report anyway because it came out after the candidate made the claim. To rehash, we’re checking the claim that after Texas cut its two-year family planning budget by $73 million, “one in four clinics closed their doors.” Would it be accurate to stay that after the initial closings, there’s been a rebound?

Thanks again,

512-445-3644

11:58 a.m.

May 30, 2018

Both statements are backed up by facts, and look at slightly different things.

You’ll have to check with TxPEP to be sure, but I believe they surveyed clinics that had been receiving FPs as of 2010 or 2011 to see whether they were still providing services and how many clients they served over the next few years. The press release for the article says:

In a study recently published online in the American Journal of Public Health, researchers at the Texas Policy Evaluation Project (TxPEP) found that 25% of publicly funded family planning clinics in Texas closed in 2011-2013, and the ones that remained opened served 54% of the clients that they had in the previous period. Planned Parenthood affiliates and other specialized family planning providers, which were the targets of the legislation, experienced the largest reductions in services, but other agencies were also adversely affected.

Effects of Family Planning Funding Cuts

In FY2012–2013, organizations had less funding overall to provide family planning services, but reductions in funding were substantially greater for specialized family planning providers than for other organizations (including public agencies providing family planning services and nonpublic agencies providing family planning services in addition to comprehensive primary care).
82 clinics closed or discontinued family planning services because of decreased funding. Many providers reported reduced hours and the elimination of evening or weekend hours. Reduced funding also led organizations to implement or expand systems requiring women to pay fixed fees (vs. as sliding scale) for services.
Organizations’ ability to provide women the full range of contraceptive methods was constrained. They were particularly limited in their ability to provide women with long-acting reversible contraceptives (such as the IUD and hormonal implant) – which provide the greatest protection from pregnancy – since these methods have a high upfront cost.

HHSC’s data show the number of clinics contracted with HHSC to receive Family Planning funds over time. HHSC data show the following for # of FP contracted clinics:

2010: 294

2011: 291

2012: 214

2013:124

2014: 89

2015: 105

2016: 89

2017: 258

2018: 246