Reproductive Health Must Be Integral to Broader Reform of Health Care Delivery and Payment Systems
Efforts now underway to reform how medical care in
"It is critical that reproductive health care and providers are fully integrated in this process, both in their own right and in the interest of broader health goals," says
A new set of principles drafted by national provider and advocacy groups in the field of reproductive health and rights, including the
* Access to care: Reform models should ensure patients' access to comprehensive, high-quality, well-coordinated reproductive health services. This encompasses access to the full range of reproductive health services, including contraception, abortion, STI screening and treatment, and maternity care.
* Access to providers: Patients must have full access to a comprehensive choice of reproductive health providers, within or outside a health plan's provider network. This must include safety-net family planning centers, specialized abortion providers and other providers offering reproductive health care.
* Patient safeguards: Reform initiatives should include patient protections, in particular those important to reproductive health care, such as confidentiality, a commitment to patient autonomy, and access to all covered services and information, free of ideological or religious interference.
* Payments and investments: Reproductive health providers should be reimbursed in full for their services and reimbursement should account for the value of preventing unintended pregnancies, STIs and reproductive cancers. Financial incentives must not undermine patient care and safeguards.
* Patient and provider engagement: Representatives of the reproductive health patient and provider communities need to be included in developing, governing, implementing and evaluating reform initiatives. They should also be provided the financial resources, when needed, to be able to participate fully in these efforts.
"Even with the future of the ACA now in question under a Trump administration, these broad delivery system and payment reform efforts will continue to have significant momentum," says Sonfield. "Certainly,
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