Texas well being officers are overhauling a program designed to steer folks away from abortion following a ProPublica and CBS Information investigation that discovered that the state had funneled tens of thousands and thousands of taxpayer {dollars} into the hassle whereas offering little oversight of the spending.
The cash has been flowing to a community of nonprofit organizations which are a part of Thriving Texas Households, a state program that helps parenting and adoption as alternate options to abortion and gives counseling, materials help and different companies. Many of the teams function as disaster being pregnant facilities, or being pregnant useful resource facilities, which frequently resemble medical clinics however are ceaselessly criticized for providing little or no precise well being care and deceptive ladies about their choices.
In its 20 years of existence, this system’s funding has grown fortyfold — reaching $100 million a 12 months beginning Sept. 1 — making it essentially the most closely funded effort of its sort within the nation.
Underneath new guidelines set to take impact then, the organizations in this system should now doc all of their bills, and they are going to be reimbursed just for prices tied to companies permitted by the state. And so they can’t search reimbursement once they redistribute donated gadgets, an effort to forestall taxpayer cash from going to organizations for items they received without spending a dime.
In the meantime, Texas is opening administration of this system to a aggressive choice course of as a substitute of robotically renewing agreements with contractors, together with one contractor that has overseen many of the program for almost twenty years.
The modifications tackle failures uncovered a 12 months in the past by the ProPublica/CBS Information investigation. As Thriving Texas Households presently operates, most suppliers are paid a flat charge for every service they declare to supply, whatever the precise price of that service. Because of this, a single shopper go to can generate a number of stacked prices, considerably rising the quantity of public cash being spent. In some instances, suppliers billed individually for every merchandise or service given to a shopper — similar to diapers, child garments, blankets, wipes, snacks and even instructional pamphlets — in keeping with data reviewed by ProPublica and CBS Information.
That association allowed organizations to invoice the state for greater than the companies truly price to supply — and hold the distinction. One group, Sealy Being pregnant Useful resource Middle, greater than quintupled its property in three years by banking some reimbursements. Its government director, Patricia Penner, acknowledged the observe, saying her objective was “to ensure we have now sufficient for this heart to proceed and to proceed for the years to return.”
“There’s no assure the funds we obtain goes to be adequate to maintain the middle going,” Penner added, “and it’s my obligation as a director to make sure we’re taking no matter service funds we’re receiving to make sure we will deal with these younger girls once they come within the door.”
Two others, McAllen Being pregnant Middle and Being pregnant Middle of the Coastal Bend in Corpus Christi, used reimbursements to finance actual property offers. The McAllen heart, which receives almost all its income from the state, purchased a constructing that had beforehand housed an abortion clinic. The Coastal Bend heart brazenly acknowledged utilizing state funds to purchase land for a brand new facility. The facilities didn’t reply to questions.
In San Antonio, Thriving Texas Households reduce off funding to a being pregnant heart referred to as A New Life for a New Era after an area information outlet reported it had spent taxpayer cash on holidays, on a bike and to fund a smoke store enterprise owned by its president and CEO. The middle didn’t reply to a request for remark.
ProPublica and CBS Information additionally discovered that state well being officers had no visibility into what companies have been being delivered or whether or not they have been reaching the folks most in want. In lots of instances, the state reimbursed suppliers $14 every time they handed out donated items or supplies, no matter their price or how they received them.
That included distributing pamphlets on parenting, fetal growth and adoption, which may set off the identical reimbursement as offering tangible support like diapers or system. The state couldn’t say precisely how a lot it had spent on these supplies as a result of it didn’t observe what was being distributed.
State-approved pamphlets and classes reviewed by a reporter said inaccuracies — similar to {that a} fetal heartbeat begins 21 days after conception — and painted single motherhood as dangerous and lonely, with marriage or adoption as higher choices.
Whereas flat-rate reimbursement is typically utilized in authorities contracting, nonprofit and accounting consultants stated making use of it to the distribution of donated items — with out clear requirements for amount or worth — was extremely irregular.
Officers with the state Well being and Human Companies Fee, which oversees Thriving Texas Households, didn’t say what prompted the coverage shift, solely that it was following steering from the state comptroller. That steering recommends awarding state grants as reimbursements for precise bills.
The state has lengthy allowed its essential contractor, Texas Being pregnant Care Community, to deal with many of the program’s oversight. The community advised the information organizations final 12 months that when state funds have been handed to subcontractors, “it’s not taxpayer cash” and people teams have been free to spend it as they noticed match. HHSC pushed again in opposition to the community, saying it nonetheless thought of the cash to be taxpayer {dollars} and anticipated it for use in step with state pointers.
The shift to a cost-reimbursement mannequin seems to convey this system extra in step with how public cash is often distributed throughout state companies in Texas.
Texas Being pregnant Care Community, which in recent times has obtained almost 75% of the Thriving Texas Households funding and distributed it to dozens of disaster being pregnant facilities, faith-based teams and different charities that function subcontractors, didn’t reply to questions on the way it plans to method the brand new contract or adapt to the stricter reimbursement guidelines.
State Rep. Donna Howard, a Democrat from Austin and a vocal critic of the state’s assist for anti-abortion packages, stated in an interview that whereas she opposes taxpayer assist for anti-abortion packages, she sees the brand new guidelines as a step in the fitting route.
However with the brand new reimbursement necessities in place, Howard questioned whether or not most of the facilities would even be capable to make use of the funding. In contrast to the earlier flat-fee system, suppliers should now observe prices, doc companies and submit receipts to justify their spending. “Who is aware of if they will truly use the funds now that they’ve to point out receipts,” she stated.
By requiring being pregnant facilities to trace purchasers’ revenue, training degree and employment — and to supply purchasers with details about public advantages accessible to them — the state is transferring away from a system that allowed nonprofits to gather funds with out regard for who was receiving assist.
Being pregnant useful resource facilities and anti-abortion activists lobbied Republican lawmakers to dam the coverage change throughout the newest legislative session, and a few publicly denounced it.
On the social media platform X, Rep. Jeff Leach, a Republican from the northern Dallas suburbs, urged the company to “not give veto energy” over this system “to biased media reporters.” Leach didn’t reply to requests for remark.
In an interview, Texas Proper to Life President John Seago warned that the brand new reimbursement mannequin would discourage participation. He stated it was “not price small suppliers moving into this system due to all of the pink tape.”
And in written testimony, Penner, from Sealy, implored legislators to protect the present mannequin, saying it allowed her crew “to concentrate on serving our purchasers somewhat than staffing up so as to deal with the paperwork” required for reimbursement.
Regardless of the pushback, lawmakers didn’t take motion to dam the brand new guidelines.
Ge Bai, a professor of accounting and well being coverage at Johns Hopkins College, stated switching to a cost-reimbursement system may assist stop waste by ensuring organizations solely receives a commission for what they really spend.
However she warned that this mannequin has its personal dangers. Since suppliers know they are going to be reimbursed, they won’t be as cautious about retaining prices down — or may even inflate their bills to get extra money. She pointed to Medicare, which used the same system prior to now however deserted it after prices spiraled uncontrolled.
To keep away from the identical drawback, she stated, this system will want robust public oversight to ensure organizations aren’t overspending simply because they know the state will cowl the invoice.
One reproductive well being coverage specialist who has carefully tracked Texas’ spending on disaster being pregnant facilities cautioned that the reforms do little to handle the broader gaps within the state’s social security internet.
“You possibly can’t actually make up for a scarcity of Medicaid medical insurance for the very poor in Texas by giving folks instructional companies, pamphlets and diapers,” stated Laura Dixon, a researcher with Resound Analysis for Reproductive Well being, primarily based in Austin.
However on the very least, she stated, “understanding the place cash goes is a very good first step for this program.”
