January 1999

NHeLP has launched a new project to preserve access to reproductive health services. As part of this initiative, NHeLP will work with low-income health advocates and women’s health advocates to:

• Educate federal and state policy makers working on Medicaid and welfare reform to increase awareness about barriers to reproductive health services and propose solutions to address such barriers;
• Impact public policy developments by working with federal administrative personnel implementing the Medicaid managed care provisions of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997;
• Monitor state-level access to family planning in Medicaid managed care;
• Expand outreach and education on Medicaid, Medicaid managed care and access to reproductive health services;
• Produce fact sheets, checklists, and other advocacy tools; and
• Provide technical assistance to local and national advocacy groups and women’s health services providers and work collaboratively to develop legal strategies, where necessary, to enforce access to reproductive rights.