TFAH Applauds Passage of FY19 Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Bill

September 26, 2018 — Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) applauds Congress for today’s passage of the FY19 Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations bill, which includes a $126 million increase for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). By completing the bill before the end of the fiscal year, Congress is ensuring that state and local health departments and other grantees can continue their critical work protecting the public’s health without fear of gaps in their grant cycles.

The now passed FY19 funding will enable CDC to continue its important work helping communities prepare for natural disasters and other emergencies, as is happening now in the aftermath of Hurricane Florence. The appropriations include a small increase to enable communities to continue working to address health disparities through the Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) program. It also continues funding focused on environmental health, and for the CDC’s critical work addressing the substance misuse crisis.

“By working together on a bipartisan basis Congress has provided a much-needed funding increase to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This increase is an important down payment on the investment required to ensure the public health system is fully prepared to tackle the health threats facing the nation,” said John Auerbach, TFAH’s President and CEO.

For years we have underfunded our nation’s public health system, which only leads to increased healthcare spending when illness and injury occur. According to TFAH’s report, A Funding Crisis for Public Health and Safety, core funding for disease prevention and health promotion programs has declined by approximately $580 million federally and has remained flat in states since 2010.

“The country needs a long-term commitment to rebuilding the nation’s public health capacity. Not just to filling some of the more dangerous gaps, but to ensuring that all communities are prepared and resilient when emergencies happen. TFAH hopes that Congress will work together again next year to raise the budget caps which kept critically important health spending at levels below those of fiscal year 2010,” Auerbach said.

Earlier this year, Auerbach testified before the House Labor-HHS Appropriations Committee about the importance of public health funding. His testimony can be found here.