FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, April 16, 2021
Statement attributable to:
Ada D. Stewart, MD
President
American Academy of Family Physicians
“The American Academy of Family Physicians applauds the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ proposal to reverse the 2019 Title X regulations that have resulted in significant barriers for patients to access evidence-based, affordable health care.
“The Title X National Family Planning Program is the only federal program dedicated to providing evidence-based family planning and other preventive health services to low-income Americans. However, the provisions put in place in 2019, which the AAFP opposed, have limited patients’ access to preventive services, exacerbated inequities, and interfered with the patient-physician relationship by dictating how family physicians and other clinicians can counsel patients.
“The AAFP has long supported and advocated for equal access to affordable and high quality health care for all. Unfortunately, the 2019 changes to Title X resulted in hundreds of thousands of patients losing access to care and caused about one quarter of all Title X family planning clinics to withdraw their participation from the program.
“The proposed regulations would restore the Title X program, advance health equity, and facilitate access to comprehensive, patient-centered health care. We urge the administration to finalize these proposals, and we look forward to working with them to build on this policy to ensure all patients have access to primary and preventive care.”
Editor's Note: To arrange an interview with Dr. Stewart, contact Janelle Davis, (913) 912-0377, or jdavis@aafp.org.
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About the American Academy of Family Physicians
The AAFP is the largest national association of family physicians, representing 128,300 physicians and medical students. Family medicine’s cornerstone is an ongoing, personal patient-physician relationship focused on impactful care for people of all ages, races and genders across all medical conditions. The AAFP supports every stage of a family physician's career and provides evidence-based resources, advocacy and community to empower family medicine. To learn more, visit aafp.org. For information about health care, medical conditions and wellness, please visit the AAFP’s patient education website, familydoctor.org.