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FAQs

Navigating your personal healthcare can be tricky and it’s normal to have a lot of questions. Here are some answers to questions we are frequently asked. If you can’t find what you’re looking for here, please call 207-922-3222  and speak with one of our knowledgeable staff members, or use the ‘Let’s Chat’ button.

Family Planning Benefit

Maine Family Planning is pleased to inform our patients about Maine’s Family Planning Benefit program, which is available to legal Maine residents of childbearing age (male and female), including teens, with an individual income of $27,257 or less annually. Eligibility for this program is based on individual income, not household income.

The Family Planning Benefit program provides limited coverage for family planning services such as:

Patients who qualify for Maine’s Family Planning Benefit program can receive covered family planning services at no cost.  Applications are available at Maine Family Planning clinics and your local DHHS office.  Fill out the application; bring it to your appointment with identification and four weeks’ worth of pay stubs.

Maine Family Planning (MFP) is the statewide leader in providing high-quality, affordable, and culturally relevant sexual and reproductive health care. Since 1971, we’ve worked to ensure every Mainer, regardless of income, geography, or circumstance, has the resources and freedom to control their sexual and reproductive lives.

We operate 18 health centers across 12 counties, a Mobile Medical Unit, and serve nearly 30,000 Mainers each year. For many, especially in rural areas, MFP is the only local health care provider.

Planned Parenthood is a national organization with affiliates across the country. Maine Family Planning is an independent, Maine-based nonprofit that has been serving Mainers for more than 50 years.

We are the only statewide family planning network in Maine and offer a wide range of services, including:

  • Birth control and family planning
  • STI testing and treatment
  • Cancer screenings
  • Basic fertility services & intrauterine insemination
  • Abortion care and miscarriage management
  • Gender-affirming hormone therapy
  • Comprehensive sexual health education

    While our mission is similar to Planned Parenthood’s in supporting reproductive freedom, Maine Family Planning is uniquely rooted in — and accountable to — Maine communities.

Maine Family Planning provides affordable health care services, including contraception, abortion care, sexually transmitted infection testing and treatment, gender affirming health care, and HIV prophylaxis. We  provide training for health care professionals, advocate for reproductive health and rights, and support educators in providing evidence-based sex education.

For family planning services, we accept most private insurance companies at our health centers, as well as Medicare and MaineCare (Medicaid). If a service is not covered by your insurance, or you don’t have insurance, our sliding fee scale is used to lower costs. The sliding scale uses your household income as a guideline. The sliding scale option is possible because of state funding.

Once you’re an established patient (after your first appointment), you can pay your bill online. You’ll need to create a Patient Portal account or have the statement ID number from the paper statement.

For abortion services, we accept MaineCare and we can do a pre-eligibility check if you have private insurance to see if your plan covers these services. If you have a financial hardship, we can discuss financial assistance when you schedule an appointment.

If the schedule allows, we may accommodate walk-ins; however, to reduce wait time and assure you will be seen, we strongly encourage scheduling ahead by calling 207-922-3222booking online, or if you are already a patient, scheduling through the Patient Portal.

There are three ways to access emergency contraception in Maine:

At Your Local Family Planning Clinic

  • There is no age restriction
  • Women and men can pick up (some kinds of) emergency contraception
  • Some forms of emergency contraception can be obtained without an appointment or prescription (some paperwork required)
  • For some forms of emergency contraception, you will need an appointment with a Nurse Practitioner

At the Pharmacy Counter

  • There is no age restriction to access emergency contraception from the pharmacy counter
  • Some forms are available without a prescription
  • Some forms require a prescription
  • A government issued ID may be required (for proof of age) for some types of emergency contraception
  • Only women can buy them
  • There needs to be a trained pharmacist available
  • You have to ask the pharmacists or clerk for them

Over the Counter

  • There is no age restriction to buy Plan B, one brand of emergency contraception, over the counter
  • Government issued ID is NOT required
  • Men and women can purchase them
  • Plan B should be found on shelves and any pharmacist or clerk can sell them
  • You don’t have to fill out any paperwork

Yes. We offer aspiration or “in clinic” abortions in our Augusta clinic and medication abortion (abortion with pills) at all of our clinics as well as through the mail. You can find information on our Abortion Services page. You can schedule an appointment by calling  207-922-3222.

In Maine, a minor can obtain confidential reproductive health care, including abortion care, without parental consent or notification. However, we encourage young people to involve their parents or a trusted adult in health care decisions whenever possible.

One great way to support Maine Family Planning is to become a patient and tell your friends and family about the services we offer. Additionally, you can check out our Support and Giving page and Join us in the Fight for Reproductive Justice!

All of our services are confidential. We encourage all teens to discuss their family planning visit with their parents or guardians. And we’re happy to report that more than half of our young patients tell us that they have talked with a parent or guardian about their decision to visit a family planning clinic.

Not all teens are able to discuss their sexual health decisions with a parent or guardian. These young people tell us that if their privacy is not guaranteed, they may not seek the care they want and need.

State family planning regulations guarantee confidential sexual health services for teens. These confidentiality policies for minors are supported by many respected health care organizations including the American Medical Association and the American Public Health Association.

Because of these confidentiality policies, if your child has received services from us, we are not able to discuss your child’s family planning visit or release medical records without the patient’s written consent.

If you’d like to have your records sent to us, please fill out this form.

If you’d like to have a copy of your records sent to another provider, please fill out this form.

The Trump Administration’s 2025 budget law blocks Medicaid funding for the basic health services we provide. If allowed to stand, this will strip nearly $2 million in annual Medicaid reimbursement from Maine Family Planning.

Services affected include:

  • Contraception
  • STI testing and treatment
  • Cancer screenings
  • Annual wellness exams

This is a back-door abortion ban: while Medicaid already does not cover abortion, cutting off Medicaid for these other services threatens our ability to keep clinics open and provide care.

  • Filed a federal lawsuit (July 16, 2025) to block the Medicaid defunding law.
  • Fundraising and advocacy to fill the funding gap.
  • Continuing to provide care regardless of ability to pay — though this is not sustainable without Medicaid.

We are not backing down. Every person deserves dignity, autonomy, and access to trusted health care.

We are committed to serving patients, and we are fighting these cuts in court. We are also fundraising to cover costs and continuing to see patients, even offering reduced or free services when possible. However, this is not sustainable long-term. We are ending primary care services by 10/31, but all of our 18 health centers remain open for now and are still offering sexual and reproductive healthcare.

  • Stay informed: Follow Maine Family Planning’s updates at mainefamilyplanning.org.
  • Donate: Contributions help us continue serving patients while we fight these cuts.

Speak out: Share your story, call your elected officials, and stand with Mainers’ right to accessible, local care.

Donate
Book Appointment
Patient Portal
Abortion Services
Virtual Visit

All of our locations remain open for sexual and reproductive health care. Three clinics (Houlton, Presque Isle, and Ellsworth) will end their primary care services on October 31st due to federal funding cuts, but those clinics remain open.

If you’d like to support our work, please consider giving.