By: Amy Chen and Priscilla Huang
Executive Summary
Medicaid is the largest source of public funding for family planning services, accounting for seventy-five percent of all public funds spent on contraceptive services and supplies. Since 1972, Medicaid enrollees seeking family planning services have enjoyed free choice of provider.
In 2017, responding to fears that the current administration might try to weaken or dismantle Medicaid’s federal freedom of choice in family planning, reproductive health advocates in California sought to codify the provision into state law. California’s Protection of Choice for Family Planning Act was signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown in October 2017 and went into effect on January 1, 2018. This fact sheet provides an overview of the law’s requirements, and a similar state requirement allowing Medi-Cal enrollee—any individual enrolled in California’s state Medicaid program—to seek most abortion care services from any qualified Medi-Cal provider.
