Planned Parenthood of Northern New England says it is hemorrhaging money and needs increased state support to avoid service cuts and clinic closures.
The regional nonprofit, which serves Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, lost $5 million last fiscal year and projects to lose an additional $8.6 million over the next three years if it continues on its current trajectory, interim CEO Nicole Clegg said at a press conference on Thursday.
“This does not include any impact from the potential outcome of the November elections,” Clegg said, alluding to how a second Donald Trump presidency might once again jeopardize Planned Parenthood’s federal funding. Many Republican-led states have systematically rolled back abortion rights since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.
Planned Parenthood has drawn on reserves to balance the books but could soon be forced to make “tough choices” about how it delivers care, Clegg said.
Clegg called on state leaders across the three states to do more to support the nonprofit. “Without us, the most vulnerable people in our communities could face catastrophic health impacts,” she said.
Planned Parenthood provides not only birth control and abortions but also a wide range of other reproductive health services, including cancer screenings, testing for sexually transmitted infections and vaccinations. The regional affiliate has a budget of $30 million and makes roughly 45 percent of its revenue off of its health care services; donations and grants cover the rest.
Vermont is the only state to subsidize the regional affiliate, according to Clegg. Lawmakers in Maine recently denied a state funding proposal, while the Republican-controlled New Hampshire Executive Council has repeatedly struck down funding measures.
Despite this, Planned Parenthood has been forced to scale back its Vermont operations, shuttering five clinics in 2022 in an attempt to save money. The seven remaining locations now serve about 13,300 patients annually, more than half of whom are low-income.
Clegg said a range of factors have contributed to the bleak financial outlook, from low reimbursement rates and high business expenses to a rising demand for discounted care.
Among the patients driving an 11 percent increase in visits last year were those seeking help because they couldn’t afford their insurance premiums, Clegg said. More people are also traveling from outside the tri-state service area — including from faraway states where abortion is banned.
Such patients are often low-income, Clegg said, and though national abortion funds have covered some of the costs associated with their care, the nonprofit has had to absorb the rest.
“It’s covering the cost of the procedure, but it’s also covering their travel costs,” Clegg said. “It’s covering their stay and their childcare needs, because we know that the majority of people seeking abortion are parents. It’s covering their time off from work.”
Over the past three years, the Planned Parenthood affiliate says it has provided the equivalent of $14 million in free care.
The plea for help comes at a difficult time for Vermont and its health care system. Most hospitals are also losing money, and the state’s largest insurance company, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont, says it is facing “extraordinary” financial pressures.
While Planned Parenthood of Northern New England has weathered previous economic downturns, Clegg said, “this is the most serious situation we have found ourselves in.”
She was nevertheless reluctant to put an exact time frame on how long the provider could maintain the status quo before it needed to start closing more clinics. Part of that stemmed from a hope that raising the alarm would lead to more support for the nonprofit, she said.
But it was also an acknowledgement of the uncertainty that will prevail until the next president is known.
“One of the most salient issues in this election is the future of reproductive rights and freedoms,” Clegg said. “Protecting those rights is only possible if [we] can continue to provide the care we provide, no matter what.”
Correction, August 1, 2024: A previous version of this story misstated how many Planned Parenthood clinics closed in Vermont two years ago.
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