Bush Administration Approves New York's Family Planning Waiver

The Department of Health and Human Services has approved a requested waiver expanding Medicaid services in New York to allow 800,000 more poor people to receive free contraception and family planning services, Gov. George Pataki announced Wednesday. The three-year waiver will affect residents earning up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level -- $8,590 per year for an adult and $14,630 per year for a family of three -- up from 185 percent. Family planning services include free birth control, sterilization, pregnancy testing and counseling, breast and cervical cancer screening and STD treatment. Abortions are not covered under the federal Medicaid program. The federal government covers 90 percent of the program's cost, while the state pays 10 percent. Unlike other Medicaid programs, counties pay no share. The waiver approval comes after nearly two years of negotiations between the Bush administration and state Health Department, said JoAnn Smith, president of Family Planning Advocates of New York State.

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