AUSTIN, Texas — Good news for women in Texas who can’t afford healthcare: A program that gives free women’s health services will continue for five more years.
The federal government approved keeping the “Healthy Texas Women” program running through 2030. This means women who use the program won’t lose their healthcare coverage.
What Is This Program?
The Healthy Texas Women program offers reproductive health and family planning services at little or no cost to eligible women in Texas. The program serves about half a million people per year and includes birth control, disease testing and treatment, and mental health support.
Who Can Get Help?
The program is for women who:
- Don’t make enough money to buy health insurance
- Make too much money to get regular Medicaid (government insurance for very low-income people)
- Need help with family planning – whether they want to get pregnant, wait to get pregnant, or prevent pregnancy
What Services Are Free?
Women in the program can get:
- Birth control pills, shots, and other contraceptives
- Cancer screenings like pap smears and mammograms
- Testing for sexually transmitted infections
- Annual checkups and preventive care
- Help with postpartum depression and mental health
If a serious health problem like cancer is found, women get referred to doctors who can treat them, though they might have to pay for that extra treatment.
Why This Extension Matters
This is good news because:
- Without this approval, the program could have ended, leaving thousands of women without healthcare
- Women currently getting services won’t lose their coverage
- Texas gets to keep using federal money to help pay for the program
What stays the same:
- All the same services are still covered
- The same doctors and clinics are still in the program
- Women don’t have to reapply or do anything different
One Change Coming Later
The state plans to change how the program works in the future. Instead of paying doctors directly, Texas will use insurance companies to manage the program. Officials say they’ll give updates about this change as it happens.
Bottom Line
For the half million Texas women who depend on this program, nothing changes right now. They can keep getting the healthcare they need through 2030 without worrying about losing coverage.
