Women's Health Initiative of Texas - Overview

2005 Medicaid Women’s Health Program developed

1970’s Texas supports family

planning services

2007State receives federal

funding for program2010130,000 women per year had received services

2010-2011Texas provides 211,980 low

income women withfamily planning 2011

State cuts “Title” programs from $111 million to $38 million2011

Exclusion of selected providers

2013State set up the Texas

Women’s Health Program

2011 –82nd Legislature cut funds from $111M to $38M. Clinics close and/or services reduced.

2013 –Medicaid Women’s Health Program 9:1 federal match program discontinued

2013 –83rd Legislative Session restores some funding

2013 –Special Sessions’ actions result in closure clinics

20122011

Exclusion of selected providers

2011State cuts “Title” programs from $111 million to $38 million

2013State set up the Texas

Women’s Health Program

• Reputation for collaboration

• Investment

• Incubation

• Short & Long Term

Texas ranks last in delivery of services:

preventive, acute and chronic care

Maternal mortality ratio is 24 death

per 100,000 live births

“Worse than average” ranking

frequency of mammograms

breast cancer surgery

pap tests

cervical cancer

prenatal care

Higher than national rates of

obesity in adults, birth to teen moms, and

rates of STDs

Women postpone or go

without care

Transportation problems

Lack of child care

Limited time off from work

access to health care= healthier pregnancies and healthier babies= access to contraceptives

= control of family planning

= access to preventive health screenings that keep them healthy and able to provide for their families.

access to health care• For every one dollar spent on publicly

provided family planning services, $4.02 is saved in the costs for an unintended pregnancy.

• In Texas, family planning costs $208/year compared to $11,192 for prenatal care, delivery, postpartum care and infant care for one year.

• An early detection breast exam is $152 and a pap test is $57 versus thousands of dollars spent on treatment after the fact.

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Access to quality healthcare is a universal, nonpartisan value and is key to women being productive members of the workforce, as well as critical to enabling Texas women to continue the essential roles they play in our families.

-- WHIT Op-Ed

WHIT’s findings …

No long-term strategy

Messaging is flawed

Lack of accountability

Current public policy approach is not working



Reactive rather than proactive

No success measures

Little to no collaboration

Changing public policy is a process over time



Legislators

Agencies

Advocacy groups

Personal responsibility


Messaging is flawed

Focus is on reproductive, not entire health

“Access” is more than financial hurdle

Us vs. Them … Politicized



No consistent presence in Austin

No building awareness w/legislators

No “best & brightest”

Lack of collaboration



Messaging is flawed



Long-term strategy

Accountability

Messaging

Public policy

WHIT’s focus …

Vision

Access to healthcare for all women in Texas

Breaking down barriers of distance, cost, convenience, and lack of commitment

All of healthcare –preventive, curative, chronic

daughters, sisters, partners, wives, mothers, grandmothers, employees, and best friends

Statewide accessStatewide adequacy

(culture, language, sexual orientation)

Statewide affordability

Mission

The Women's Health Initiative of Texas engages, educates and empowers

key stakeholders and the public

to drive systemic change focused on

access, adequacy and affordability

of women’s healthcare in Texas

through collaboration and

innovative public policy solutions.

Mission








Mission








Mission








Mission








Mission








Mission








WHIT Core ValuesWe hold ourselves accountable for transformational, bipartisan, collaborative, innovative, outcomes-

driven work which will then enable us to hold stakeholders

,legislators, agencies and healthcare users accountable for

accessible, adequate and affordable healthcare for women

in Texas.

We will not only research and highlight best practices, we will set an example for how collaborative work around women’s health can be effective, authentic, bipartisan

and mission-driven.

We will maximize core partnerships, eliminate

duplication of efforts, and ensure we measure our work to gauge success.

We will gather the “best and brightest” to drive innovative solutions around women’s health,

empowering them to take risks, in order to create

long-term structural and policy level

change.

We will employ a proactive approach toward systemic

change -- utilizing reproducible and sustainable

models.

Strategy: Collaboration, Capacity-building

Goal: Build capacity and develop sustainable infrastructure using a bipartisan approach and “best of” collaboration model.

• Develop funding streams to support short- and long-term work

• Develop formal collaboration model and infrastructure (best practices)

• Develop local, statewide and national coalition with core partners and membership structure

• Build expertise in women’s health

Strategy: Accountability

Goal: Build capacity and develop sustainable infrastructure using a bipartisan approach and “best of” collaboration model.

• Collaborate on an independent review to validate collaborative work

• Develop metrics, scorecards, and validation points for WHIT outcomes and theory of change

Strategy: Messaging

Goal: Shift messaging from reproductive health to the entirety of women’s healthcare resulting in a shift in public will and political will

• Develop data and research central repository to support messaging.

• Position WHIT as the “go to” resource for women’s health information around accessibility, affordability and adequacy.

• Create media campaign recognizing targeted groups require customized messaging

Strategy: Public Policy

Goal: Utilizing bipartisan participation, develop collaborative and innovative public policy solutions that drive systemic change around accessibility, affordability and adequacy.

• Identify best practices models • Mobilize a brain trust of government relations and

public policy strategists • Cultivate and identify legislative women’s health

champions • Educate agencies, legislators, and candidates • Produce a legislative and agency scorecard

We will leverage the collective strength and power of key stakeholders to reframe the messaging around women’s healthcare in order to drive and implement

innovative public policy solutions using a bipartisan accountability approach and

sustainable collaboration model resulting in systemic change,

and ultimately empowerment and justice for women and families in Texas.

Health & Medicine

Women's Health Initiative of Texas - Overview