FACT CHECK: Does Planned Parenthood Get Over $500 Million a Year in Government Funding?

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By Emily Larsen, The Stream, May 20, 2018

Many people on Twitter said that Planned Parenthood receives $500 million in government money every year.

“If they truly did such important work, make them go find the $500 million without taxpayer support or subsidy,” Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, tweeted.

Steve Deace@SteveDeaceShow

Yes, Trump is cutting Planned Parenthood funding, and should be praised for doing so. However, it’s only about a tenth of the $500 million in funding he just gave them in the omnibus last month. It’s a positive step, yes, but this is not keeping a promise. This is a first step.

“Yes, Trump is cutting Planned Parenthood funding, and should be praised for doing so. However, it’s only about a tenth of the $500 million in funding he just gave them in the omnibus last month,” CRTV host Steve Deace said in another tweet.

Josh M Shepherd@JoshMShep

Cutting $55 million of Planned Parenthood’s $543 million in annual government funding = approx. 10% https://www.cnsnews.com/blog/michael-w-chapman/gops-spending-bill-fully-funds-planned-parenthood 

Many steps yet for this to be implemented, legal challenges to be expected https://twitter.com/sbalist/status/997292197648224257 

“Cutting $55 million of Planned Parenthood’s $543 million in annual government funding = approx. 10%,” writer and Stream contributor Josh M. Shepherd said.

Verdict: True

Planned Parenthood local affiliates received an average of $543 million in government grants and reimbursements each year since 2010. The bulk of that comes from Medicaid reimbursements, and about $50 million to $60 million comes from federal Title X family planning grants.

Fact Check:

The tweets followed reports that President Donald Trump’s administration will propose a regulation that blocks clinics that perform abortions, like Planned Parenthood clinics, from receiving federal Title X family planning grants.

Planned Parenthood has a network of about 56 local affiliates and around 600 clinics in the U.S. Its annual reports show that the affiliates have received an average of $543 million in government grants and reimbursements each year since 2010. Planned Parenthood’s national office and its political action committee do not receive government funding.

The organization’s most recent annual report shows that the affiliates received about $544 million in government funds from July 2016 to June 2017, accounting for 37 percent of revenue for all local and national Planned Parenthood arms.

The bulk of Planned Parenthood’s government funding comes from Medicaid, a government health insurance program for lower-income people that is funded by federal and state governments. Local affiliates got an average of $404 million per year from Medicaid from 2013 to 2015, according to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report released in March.

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The Hyde Amendment, first implemented in 1977, bans the use of federal funding for abortion except in the case of rape, incest or life endangerment. Medicaid reimburses Planned Parenthood centers for services like HIV testing and birth control. But states can use their own funds to expand Medicaid coverage for abortions — and 17 states do so.

Title X family planning grants are Planned Parenthood’s second main source of government money. The grant program supports clinics that provide services like breast cancer screening, contraceptives, natural family planning methods, infertility services and abstinence counseling. Planned Parenthood clinics that offer and perform abortions in addition to those services are also eligible for the funds.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) distributed $55 million to $57 million in Title X family planning grants to Planned Parenthood affiliates each year from 2013 to 2015, according to the GAO report.

Anti-abortion advocates argue that while the law requires that federal funds not cover abortions, federal money helps to subsidize abortion clinics by freeing up dollars that they would otherwise use on salaries and other services. The new Trump administration proposal addresses that concern.

“The proposal would require a bright line of physical as well as financial separation between Title X programs and any program (or facility) where abortion is performed, supported, or referred for as a method of family planning,” a Trump administration official said in a statement. That would effectively make Planned Parenthood clinics ineligible for the grant.

The proposal is similar to a Reagan-era Title X rule. But unlike the Reagan regulation, the Trump administration has not announced plans to reinstate the “domestic gag rule” that prohibited providers from discussing abortion with patients.

Congress appropriated $286.5 million to the grant program in the March omnibus.

The Planned Parenthood affiliates also get a small amount of money — less than a percent of the government funds that they receive — from Medicare, which is federally financed, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), which is funded by both state and federal governments.

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