Public funding of contraceptive, sterilization and abortion services, 1983

In 1983, the federal and state governments spent +340 million to provide contraceptive services--four percent more than they spent during the previous year. Title X of the Public Health Service Act, still the leading source of funding, accounted for +117 million, or 34 percent of all public expenditures. Almost as important was the +108 million (32 percent of total expenditures) provided through Title XIX of the Social Security Act (Medicaid). Two block-grant programs--Social Services and Maternal and Child Health--provided +38 million and +19 million, respectively; together, the two were responsible for 17 percent of public support for contraceptive services. State governments, which spent +58 million of their own revenues, provided an additional 17 percent of funding. Some public expenditures for contraceptive services were made in all the states. Nearly all of the four percent increase in total public funds between 1982 and 1983 was due to a 15 percent rise in Medicaid reimbursements. The federal and state governments together spent +69 million to provide about 73,000 sterilizations in 1983. Ninety percent of sterilization expenditures were made by the federal government--86 percent through the Medicaid program. In addition, the states and the federal government spent +71 million to provide 216,000 abortions in 1983. Unlike public funding for either contraceptive services or sterilization, almost all of the funding for abortion came from the states rather than from the federal government.