Anonymous Private Donation Will Boost Services Under Colorado Family Planning Program

Colorado's family planning budget has received a $3 million confidential private grant, which will be disbursed over three to five years as part of an effort to reduce unintended pregnancies in the state, the Denver Post reports. The grant will allow Colorado to provide thousands more low-income residents with low or no-cost contraception, vasectomies and tubal ligation procedures. The funding also will allow the state to provide more family planning program participants with long-acting reversible contraceptive methods, such as intrauterine devices and the NuvaRing, which are more effective than birth control pills but also more costly. The Post reports that the state currently spends about $4 million annually on the program, while local health agencies contribute about $10 million. The subsidies allow state clinics to offer procedures, such as vasectomies, at a reduced cost. For example, vasectomies are offered for about $200, compared with the $900 cost at many private providers, the Post reports.

Currently, the family planning program serves about 52,000 of the 200,000 low-income residents who qualify for the assistance, according to Candace Grosz, director of women's health for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. The state estimates that for every dollar spent toward family planning services, it saves about $2.48 in costs related to prenatal care, deliveries and other services that result from unintended pregnancies. According to a federal study, 40% of pregnant women surveyed in Colorado said they did not intend to become pregnant. Grosz said, "It's important for clients to be pregnant when they want to be pregnant and when they're able to care for their children" (Booth, Denver Post, 12/3).


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