Despite complying with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Missouri has yet to receive its Title X grant, which funds reproductive healthcare services.
The Missouri Family Health Council, located in Jefferson City, was set to receive $8.5 million and then distribute it to more than 50 sites in Missouri and Oklahoma that serve more than 40,000 patients, according to the MFHC website.
Michelle Trupiano is the MFHC’s executive director and said that without Title X, infant and maternal mortality rates will rise. Missouri is among one of the worst states for women's overall and reproductive health.
Two months ago, the MFHC was informed by the HHS of a potential violation — HHS officials told her team the decision was due to MFHC including diversity, equity and inclusion language in a job description from 2023. Trupiano said the MFHC was able to find emergency funding through donations, but that cash is set to run out around July 1.
Without those funds, Trupiano said health centers will have to fire staff, charge patients or cut programs entirely.
“Every day that this funding is withheld is a step closer to clinics having to reduce or shutdown services," Trupiano said.
Title X helps fund services including cancer screenings, birth control, and sexually transmitted disease care. The grant cannot be used to fund abortion procedures.
Trupiano said rural health centers will get hit the most by the funding freeze.
Zach Moser runs the Dent County Health Center – a clinic that relies on Title X money. He said his county had little-to-no family planning services before the Center's federally-funded program started three years ago.
"There's still no OB-GYNs that work in Dent County," Moser said. "So, we really do fill a need here."
Moser said that last year the center received about $4,500 per month from Title X. Moser said staff already runs lean, so that burden would most likely fall to patients.
“We would not be able to offer those services for free without that funding," he said.
Moser said most of the Dent County Health Center clients don't have health insurance and depend on the free services currently offered.
"For a lot of people, family planning providers are [people's] only source of healthcare at all," Moser said. "It's broader than just reproductive health."
But Moser and others are still hopeful that the HHS will give the funding back to Missouri. A spokesperson for Planned Parenthood Great Rivers said that they're not sure about funding sources but plan to continue providing services while the funding sources remain uncertain.
