Abortion access for Medicaid members in protective states

In this post-Roe era, it is not just in restrictive states where abortion seekers face barriers to care. In protective states like California, Illinois, and New York, in-person clinics are outnumbered by fake clinics, a surge of out-of-state patients have led to prolonged appointment wait times, and costs to care are often out of reach for many patients: The median self-pay cost for abortion pills is $568 and for in-clinic procedures $625-$725, depending on how far along the pregnancy is. For marginalized communities—including those who are low-income, Black, Latina, or living in rural or health care-scarce areas—these barriers are magnified. 

State Medicaid programs offer a solution, by ensuring that the most vulnerable populations have all pregnancy outcomes covered, including abortion. The potential of Medicaid to increase access, however, has not yet been fully realized.

The emergence of telemedicine abortion care is changing that. Clinics like Hey Jane remove the need to wait for an appointment, travel to a clinic, or pay for additional related expenses (such as transportation to/from a clinic or lost wages from missed work), ensuring that this important patient population is better served.

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The report

We set out to better understand the needs and experiences of Medicaid patients who have sought abortion care, including, their comfort with using telehealth platforms, the key factors that play into their decisionmaking, and the biggest barriers they faced when seeking out abortion care.

Our goal

Our hope is that the findings from this survey will help providers who may be referring their patients to care, managed care organizations that want to better support their Medicaid members, and key government leaders who are looking for ways to protect reproductive health care in their states—so that this essential health care is even more accessible to those who need it.