FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 11, 2010

Contact:  Ana Sandoval, PPAC Communications
916.446.5247 or 916.712.6239

'California can't afford cuts like these'
Family Planning program saves the state billions, gains federal matching funds

A recent analysis shows that California's premiere family planning program, Family PACT, has saved the state more than $4 billion since its inception by preventing unintended pregnancies. The report, released by the University of California San Francisco (UCSF), shows that for every dollar spent on the Family PACT program, California saves $9.25 by reducing medical and social services costs resulting from unintended pregnancies.

In addition to the cost savings outlined in the UCSF analysis, family planning also draws down tens of millions in federal matching dollars. For every dollar the state spends on family planning programs like Family PACT, the federal government provides $9 in matching federal funds, one of the highest federal matches of any program in California. 

Yet despite the cost savings to the state AND the millions in federal funds that California gains through the program, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed to curtail funding and possibly eliminate the entire program in his 2010-2011 budget.

"If there was ever a penny-wise, pound-foolish budget proposal, it is the governor's proposal to cut this cost-effective program," said Kathy Kneer, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California.  "Family PACT provides essential health services to 1.6 million women and men each year at a substantial financial savings to local, state and federal government. Like the report says 'investing in pregnancy prevention results in fiscal savings at every level of government.'  California can't afford cuts like these."

According to the Bixby Center for Global Reproductive Health, the authors of the analysis, the findings, which are based on 2007 data, indicate a substantial increase in the program's cost savings compared to a previous report with the overall savings nearly doubling in the last five years.

"Family PACT saves the state today and in the future," Kneer said. "We're asking the Legislature to continue to commit to protecting women's health by rejecting cuts to family planning services."

For a copy of the complete report go to Cost-Benefit Analysis of the California Family PACT Program for Calendar Year 2007.

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Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California (PPAC) is the state public policy office representing California's nine separately incorporated Planned Parenthood affiliates. Through advocacy and electoral action, PPAC promotes sound public policy in areas of preventive health care, reproductive health and comprehensive sex education.