Archives: Press Releases

Press Release on health-related topics.

TFAH Statement on the ACA and the Prevention and Public Health Fund

Washington, D.C., July 28, 2017 – The below is a statement from John Auerbach, president and CEO, Trust for America’s Health (TFAH).

“TFAH is thankful that healthcare coverage will continue to be available for millions of Americans. We applaud the decision by the majority of senators to avoid the damaging repeal of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). As a result, millions can breathe a sigh of relief that their coverage will not be cut, their benefits reduced and/or their premiums become unaffordable.

That said, there is a need for continued support to increase and sustain access to affordable, high-quality healthcare, covering the range of needs from life- and cost-saving preventive care to comprehensive treatment.

And, importantly, efforts must ensure the Prevention and Public Health Fund remains intact. The Prevention Fund is one of the most important and biggest sources of funding for prevention-focused efforts, comprising 12 percent of the budget for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The Fund supports essential work at CDC and provides more than $600 million a year directly to states and communities to address their leading health concerns using the best public health approaches available. Without these funds, we are putting Americans across the country at unnecessary risk for health problems that could be prevented.”

 

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Trust for America’s Health is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to saving lives by protecting the health of every community and working to make disease prevention a national priority.

CDC may face double jeopardy with Senate health bill

July 27, 2017
by Lev Facher
Stat News

“Slashing public health and prevention funding would increase preventable suffering and death, make the poorest and sickest communities fall even further behind, and leave our country far less prepared for and capable of responding to public health emergencies,” the letter stated, signed by executives from the American Public Health Association, Prevention Institute, Public Health Institute, Society for Public Health Education, and Trust for America’s Health.

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Public Health Groups Decry Potential Elimination of the Prevention and Public Health Fund in Senate Bills

Joint Statement from American Public Health Association, Prevention Institute, Public Health Institute, Society of Public Health Education, and Trust for America’s Health

July 27, 2017

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Senate is expected to soon vote on a ‘skinny’ repeal bill that would target key components of the Affordable Care Act – including potentially eliminating the Prevention and Public Health Fund.

This short-sighted move would cause long-term damage to our nation’s health. If the Prevention and Public Health Fund is eliminated, the pain of these cuts will be felt across the country, reverberating in every state and community. Over the next five years alone, states stand to lose over $3 billion in funding they rely on to prevent chronic disease, halt the spread of infections and epidemics, and invest in the community resources that support health and equity. It would cut the budget of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention by 12 percent.

In the lives of individuals and communities, strong public health infrastructure makes the difference between health and illness, safety and injury, life and death. Slashing public health and prevention funding would increase preventable suffering and death, make the poorest and sickest communities fall even further behind, and leave our country far less prepared for and capable of responding to public health emergencies. The undersigned groups find this vision of the future unacceptable, and stand for prevention and public health.

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The Senate’s Latest Obamacare Replacement Effort will not improve the Nation’s Health, Affordable Care Act

Washington, D.C., July 25, 2017 – The below is a statement from John Auerbach, president and CEO, of Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) on the Senate’s motion to proceed.

“Each new iteration of Obamacare repeal legislation has failed to do what a health bill should: improve the nation’s health.

We know—according to the Congressional Budget Office’s scores on any number of the attempted bills—that tens of millions of people will quickly lose access to health insurance and the preventive services and programs which keep them from developing debilitating and costly chronic diseases.

That is, simply, the opposite of what a bill—intended to improve the nation’s health—should do.

Continued attempts to eliminate the Prevention and Public Health Fund would irreparably harm the nation’s health. States and communities rely on the hundreds of millions of dollars they receive annually to work on the critical health issues—including the opioid epidemic, lead poisoning, obesity, tobacco use and vaccine-preventable illnesses—facing their citizens.

To date, any funding included in repeal legislation for the opioid crisis has been nowhere near enough to solve the problem and will not make up for the substantially larger cuts to Medicaid and the Prevention Fund.

Estimates have found that the total coverage cost for people receiving treatment for substance misuse disorders could reach $220 billion over the next decade. And, people with substance misuse disorders often suffer from additional health problems – for example, mental illness and chronic conditions such as heart disease or diabetes – and need the routine access to care and services provided by Medicaid. As such, substance misuse treatment must remain part of the Medicaid integrated care system.

TFAH encourages the Administration and Congress to start over and create a true healthcare bill that will improve upon Obamacare, keep people covered and safeguard the nation’s health.”

Trust for America’s Health is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to saving lives by protecting the health of every community and working to make disease prevention a national priority.

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In Granite City stop, Durbin lays out opposition to repealing health-care law

July 5, 2017
Illinois Business Journal

The list of medical and patient advocacy groups voicing their opposition to the Senate Republican health care repeal bill is growing by the day with the Illinois Health and Hospital Association, the American Hospital Association, American Medical Society, AARP, American Nurses Association, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, American Academy of Pediatrics, National Women’s Law Center, American Heart Association, American Diabetes Association, American Lung Association, American Psychiatric Association, SEIU and Trust for America’s Health among those announcing their opposition.

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The Senate’s Better Care Reconciliation Act is Irredeemable, would eliminate 12 Percent of CDC’s Budget for Fiscal Year 2018

Washington, D.C., June 22, 2017 – The below is a statement from John Auerbach, president and CEO, of Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) on the Senate’s Better Care Reconciliation Act.

“The Senate version is no better than what the House proposed and in no way improves upon the Affordable Care Act (ACA). In reality, this Act is irredeemable.

If the Better Care Reconciliation Act becomes law, tens of millions will lose insurance. A critical part of what they’ll lose is access to the care they need to prevent or manage chronic conditions in a life- and cost-saving way. More than 80 percent of the $3 trillion dollars we spend every year on healthcare goes to individuals with one or more chronic conditions—with better preventive care and well managed chronic disease clinical services we can reduce costs and improve health outcomes.

A better way for Congress to cut healthcare costs and keep Americans healthy would be to create legislation that increases investments in preventive services and programs and ensures people have access to clinical care before they develop costly conditions.

This bill does the absolute opposite.

In addition to millions losing insurance, the Senate bill would eliminate the Prevention and Public Health Fund beginning next fiscal year, which supplies 12 percent of the budget (or close to $900 million) for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). And, $625 million of that goes directly to states and communities to address their most pressing health needs, including drug misuse, infectious diseases, lead poisoning, obesity, diabetes, hypertension, cancer and tobacco use.

In addition, with the phasing out of Medicaid expansion and possible loss of guaranteed essential health benefits, effective preventive services—including vaccines and screenings for cancer—will no longer be required of insurers.

If the Better Care Reconciliation Act becomes law, the American people will be sicker and poorer. We will likely see more overdoses and untreated STDs, rises in infant mortality and increases in innumerable other preventable health issues, all of which add up to ever-increasing healthcare costs.

We strongly urge the United States Congress to start over and create a true healthcare bill that will actually improve the ACA and the nation’s health.”

Trust for America’s Health is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to saving lives by protecting the health of every community and working to make disease prevention a national priority.

Public Health Leaders Make Urgent Joint Call to Protect Prevention and Healthcare

Joint Statement from American Public Health Association, Prevention Institute, Public Health Institute and Trust for America’s Health

June 20, 2017

The fight to protect public health is more important than ever.

The Senate is moving quickly—and secretively—on their version of legislation to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA). While we don’t know the content of the bill, we do know that the House-passed repeal bill—the American Health Care Act—would cause over 23 million people to lose their healthcare, restructure Medicaid, pare down essential benefits like maternity and newborn care, result in the loss of over a million American jobs, and zero out the Prevention and Public Health Fund. As leaders of organizations dedicated to protecting and advancing the public’s health, we call on Congress now to protect federal investments in public health funding, the Prevention and Public Health Fund, and affordable, high-quality healthcare.

Public health is at the very core of keeping our country safe, healthy, resilient, and secure. It works behind the scenes to ensure we have clean water to drink, safe food to eat, and healthy air to breathe. It works to safeguard us from infectious diseases like measles or Ebola by preventing the onset or spread of disease. It builds on time tested strategies to reduce the toll of chronic diseases and injuries. Public health works to redress long-standing inequities in health and safety, by investing in communities of greatest need. Through prevention, evidence-based treatment of substance use, prescription drug monitoring, and improved opioid prescribing, public health can solve the opioid epidemic, which kills ninety-one Americans a day. From opioid overdoses to rising infant and maternal mortality rates, Americans are seeing both the length and quality of their lives decline—and we need more, not fewer, investments in public health to turn the tide.

Repealing the ACA and its investments in public health and prevention dismantles the capacity of public health to do its work. The pain will be felt in every state, every congressional district, and every neighborhood, and those who are most vulnerable will suffer the most. If the Prevention Fund is eliminated, over the next five years states stand to lose over $3 billion they rely on to prevent chronic disease, halt the spread of infections, and invest in the community resources that support health and safety. Repealing the ACA and the Prevention Fund ensures there is no progress to reduce healthcare spending or improve the health of our workforce. Repealing the ACA will result in an America where preventable suffering and death are more widespread, and an America where the poorest and sickest communities fall even farther behind.

A strong public health infrastructure is at the very core of making our country safe, healthy, and secure. We need to act now to protect it.

The President’s FY 2018 Budget Proposal Would be Perilous for the Nation’s Health

Washington, D.C., May 23, 2017 – The below is a statement from John Auerbach, president and CEO, of Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) on the President’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 proposed budget announcement.

“The proposed $1.2 billion cut to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) would be perilous for the health of the American people.

From Ebola to Zika to opioid misuse to diabetes to heart disease, the CDC is on the frontlines keeping Americans healthy. Cutting nearly 20 percent of the CDC’s Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion center’s budget would be disastrous.

Enormous cuts are also proposed throughout the rest of the agency including to programs that protect the American people from infectious diseases, environmental contaminants, exposure to tobacco and much more. If these budget cuts were to occur, they would cripple CDC’s operations and result in increased illnesses, injuries and preventable deaths.

CDC has already lost more than $580 million in funding since 2010 – and the proposed American Healthcare Act would, in FY 2019, repeal the Prevention and Public Health Fund, which supplies 12 percent of CDC’s budget—of which more than $620 million goes yearly to states.

Even now, with a relatively stable FY 2017 budget, CDC is operating with nearly 700 vacancies and will function with diminished resources once the Zika emergency supplemental funding runs out.

As such, this unprecedented and dramatic cut would have unparalleled and drastic consequences for our nation’s health and would likely lead to staggering increases in our healthcare service costs. It would also create massive holes in state public health funding, as states and local communities rely on the hundreds of millions they receive from CDC every year.

In essence, the proposed budget would force CDC to fight epidemics and health threats with both hands tied behind their back while wearing a blindfold.

We urge the Administration and Congress to work together to ensure CDC is able to protect the American people and help Americans be healthy and thrive.”

 

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Trust for America’s Health is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to saving lives by protecting the health of every community and working to make disease prevention a national priority.

Trust for America’s Health Welcomes Five New Board Members

Washington, D.C., May 9, 2017 – Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) has announced that five have newly joined the Board of Directors, including:

Dr. Stephanie Mayfield Gibson is the Senior Vice President for Population Health at KentuckyOne Health and the Chief Medical Officer for KentuckyOne Health Partners. Previously, she was the Commissioner of Health and Director of the Division of Laboratory Services at the Kentucky Department of Public Health.

Dr. David Lakey is the Chief Medical Officer and Associate Vice Chancellor for Population Health at The University of Texas System. Previously, he served as the Commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services.

Dr. Karen Remley, MBA, MPH, FAAP is CEO of the American Academy of Pediatrics and previously was the Commissioner of Health of the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Dr. Umair A. Shah, MPH is the Executive Director, Harris County Public Health, President-elect, National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) and President, Texas Association of City and County Health Officials (TACCHO).

Mr. Vince Ventimiglia, JD is Vice Chair for Leavitt Partners, and, previously, was Assistant Secretary for Legislation, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

“It is great to combine the expertise of our existing board with the diverse talents and backgrounds of those joining today,” said Gail C. Christopher, chair of the board of TFAH. “Speaking for the board, we look forward to working with our new members to create a culture of health and ensure health promotion and disease prevention are national priorities.”

They will join the eight existing members of the board:

  • Gail C. Christopher, DN, Chair of the Board and Vice President for Policy and Senior Advisor at the WK Kellogg Foundation;
  • Dr. David Fleming, Vice President for PATH;
  • Cynthia M. Harris, PhD, DABT, Vice Chair of the Board and Director of the Institute of Public Health and Professor at Florida A&M University;
  • Dr. Robert T. Harris, Treasurer of the Board and Medical Director at the North Carolina Medicaid Support Services, CSC, Inc.;
  • Dr. Octavio N. Martinez, Jr., MPH, MBA, FAPA, Executive Director of the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health at the University of Texas at Austin;
  • C. Kent McGuire, PhD, President and CEO of the Southern Education Foundation;
  • Dr. Eduardo J. Sanchez, MPH, Chief Medical Officer for Prevention for the American Heart Association; and
  • Theo Spencer, Secretary of the Board and Senior Advocate, Climate Center, Natural Resources Defense Council.

“It is my pleasure to welcome these exceptional individuals to TFAH’s board,” said John Auerbach, President and CEO, of TFAH. “Their wealth of knowledge and resourcefulness will be integral as TFAH moves forward in our efforts to help advance and improve the nation’s health and the public health system. Staff and TFAH’s board are thrilled to work with them.”

Trust for America’s Health is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to saving lives by protecting the health of every community and working to make disease prevention a national priority.