Earlier today, January 9, 2014, the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee convened to discuss the future of 20 Medicare, Medicaid, and public health provisions and programs, including the Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP) and the Title V abstinence-only-until-marriage (AOUM) program, that are set to expire in fiscal year (FY) 2014. Among three additional administration witnesses, Dr. Naomi Goldstein, Director of the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), provided testimony on PREP and the Title V AOUM program as well as other programs within ACF’s purview. Dr. Goldstein emphasized the evaluation and evidence criteria within PREP and highlighted the reach of the adolescent sexual health education program: an anticipated 300,000 young people reached through over 300 different programs operating in over 1,300 sites across the country. Her full testimony and additional hearing materials are available on the Committee’s Majority and Minority websites.
SIECUS thanks several members of the subcommittee for their support for PREP’s reauthorization. During his opening statement, Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member, Representative Henry A. Waxman (D-CA-33), voiced his support for the continuation of PREP among other programs, with the exception of Title V Section 510 “Abstinence Education,” indicating his reservations about extending abstinence-only funding. Congresswomen Lois Capps (D-CA-24) and Donna Christensen (D-VI) both shared their support for PREP and also provided Dr. Goldstein additional opportunities to address PREP’s strengths in asking about PREP’s focus on using evidence informed programs to reach vulnerable populations and rigorous evaluation. Dr. Goldstein highlighted PREP’s role in serving young people in disproportionately affected geographic areas and other marginalized youth with high rates of teen pregnancy, HIV, and other sexually transmitted diseases, with initial evaluation findings anticipated in 2016.
Unfortunately, the hearing was not free of demonstrations of support for the continuation of the Title V AOUM program. Subcommittee Chairman, Representative Joe Pitts (R-PA-16), utilized part of his allotted time for witness questions to tout the Committee’s Majority staff analysis that attempts to repackage ineffective, incomplete, and harmful AOUM programs as “sexual risk avoidance.”
Procedurally, unlike the Senate Finance Committee hearing last month in which a legislative proposal reauthorizing PREP was voted out of committee, today’s House hearing was merely an opportunity to discuss the various programs facing expiration and begin consideration of their path toward reauthorization in an extenders package.
The next step for the extenders package in the House is currently unknown, though timing is likely to coincide with the expiration of the Medicare sustainable growth rate (SGR) extension on April 1st, as the SGR reform bill is expected to be the legislative vehicle for the extenders. PREP reauthorization champion in the Senate, Senator Max Baucus (D-MT), recently nominated to be the next U.S. Ambassador to China, is attempting to move quickly on a permanent SGR fix prior to his confirmation.
