ACOEM Joins Coalition Opposing Cuts to Prevention and Public Health Fund
March 27, 2012
The Honorable Barack H. Obama
President of the United States of America
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear Mr. President:
As leaders of national organizations committed to the public’s health, we are writing to express our deep disappointment in your Administration’s support for reducing the investment in the Prevention and Public Health Fund (Fund). The proposed cut to the Fund in your FY2013 budget helped pave the way for the $6.25 billion cut that was included in HR 3630, the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act, which you signed into law in February. This represents an enormous step backward in our commitment to prevention and compromises our ability to make progress on cost containment, public health modernization, and wellness promotion. We urge you to publicly state your commitment to oppose any future cuts in the Fund.
Less than five percent of national health spending is devoted to public health. Prior to creation of the Fund, there was no reliable investment to promote wellness, prevent disease and protect against public health or bioterrorism emergencies. The consequences of years of neglect are clear – hundreds of billions of dollars in mandatory funding are spent each year through Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal health care programs to pay for health care services once patients develop an acute illness, disability, injury, or chronic disease and present for treatment in our health care system.
Reflective of the fact that evidence-based prevention programs are the key to reducing health costs, prevention was one of the three key pillars of health reform. The Prevention and Public Health Fund was created in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and designed as a guaranteed funding stream and an ongoing commitment to prevention. While the cost of the Fund represented just two percent of the outlays authorized by the ACA, states and communities are already using these prevention dollars to build epidemiology and laboratory capacity to track and respond to disease outbreaks, train the nation's public health workforce, modernize vaccine systems, prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS, reduce tobacco use, promote behavioral health, prevent injuries, help control the obesity epidemic, reduce health disparities, and build the evidence base to continually enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of these public health programs.
This small but vitally important investment is essential if we are to reduce the growth of chronic diseases such as obesity, heart disease, and diabetes, which are the primary drivers in the increase in health costs. Research shows that if current trends continue, obesity rates could be expected to grow from 32 percent to 50-51 percent for men and 45-52 percent for women by 2030.
1 Based on historic trends, by 2030 the United States would spend an additional $66 billion a year on treating obesity-related conditions, while experiencing a loss in economic productivity as high as $540 billion. According to a recent study in Health Affairs, current obesity-related medical costs total $147 billion a year, or nearly 10 percent of all annual medical spending, based on 2006 data. However, if we are able to reduce average body mass index by five percent the United States would save $29.8 billion in five years, $158.1 billion in ten years, and $611.7 billion in twenty years.
One important solution seems clear: preventing chronic diseases from happening. Over the next ten years, we have the opportunity to utilize the now $12.5 billion in the Fund to invest in innovative programs that will help make healthy choices the easy choices for Americans. The remaining investment in the Prevention and Public Health Fund should be dedicated to new and transformative programs that will modernize our public health system, as they were intended to be under the ACA.
We hope you will work with us to ensure that the Prevention and Public Health Fund is not subjected to any further cuts, and is used as it was intended: to invest in transformative programs that will modernize our public health system, lower health costs and help create a long-term path to a healthier and economically sound America. This Fund has earned the support of more than 720 national, state and local organizations which recognize the importance of prevention (see attached list). Your strong public support is imperative.
Sincerely,
1Y Claire Wang, Kim McPherson, Tim Marsh, Steven L Gortmaker, Martin Brown. Health and economic burden of the projected obesity trends in the USA and the UK. Lancet. 2011:378: 815-25.
Normandie Nigh
Chief Executive Officer
A World Fit for Kids!
Patricia M. Babjak
Chief Executive Officer
Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
Lisa Simpson, MB, BCh, MPH
President and Chief Executive Officer
AcademyHealth
William G. "Bill" Robertson
President and Chief Executive Officer
Adventist HealthCare, Inc
Carole S. Treston, RN MPH
Executive Director
AIDS Alliance for Children, Youth & Families
Victor A. Barnes
Chief Executive Officer
AIDS United
LeeAnn Hall
Executive Director
Alliance for a Just Society
Robert W. Block, MD FAAP
President
American Academy of Pediatrics
Geraldine “Polly” Bednash, PhD, RN,FAAN
Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director
American Association of Colleges of Nursing
Lucinda L. Maine, PhD, RPh
Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer
American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy
Deborah Carr
Executive Director
American Association of Poison Control Centers
Roberta Carlin
Executive Director
American Association on Health and Disability
John R. Seffrin, PhD
Chief Executive Officer
American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network
T. Warner Hudson, MD FACOEM, FAAFP
President
American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
Mike Barry, CAE
Executive Director
American College of Preventive Medicine
Larry Hausner
Chief Executive Officer
American Diabetes Association
Nancy A. Brown
Chief Executive Officer
American Heart Association|American Stroke Association
Gregory Miller
President
American Hiking Society
LaVarne A. Burton
President and Chief Executive Officer
American Kidney Fund
Charles D. Connor
President and Chief Executive Officer
American Lung Association
Colin McCluney
Education & Advocacy Fellow
American Medical Student Association
Georges C. Benjamin, MD, FACP, FACEP (E)
Executive Director
American Public Health Association
Edward Grandi
Executive Director
American Sleep Apnea Association
John H. Klippel, MD
President and Chief Executive Officer
Arthritis Foundation
Kathy Lim Ko
President and Chief Executive Officer
Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum
Lance Toma
Executive Director
Asian & Pacific Islander Wellness Center
Allison L. Lewis
Executive Director
Association for Prevention Teaching and Research
Marcus Williams
President
Association of Black Cardiologists
Susan Swider, PhD, APHN-BC
President
Association of Community Health Nursing Educators
Michael Fraser
Chief Executive Officer
Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs
James Walker
President
Association of Population Centers
Scott J. Becker, MS
Executive Director
Association of Public Health Laboratories
Glynnis LaRosa, RN, MPH, CPHQ
President
Association of State and Territorial Directors of Nursing
Paul E. Jarris, MD, MBA
Executive Director
Association of State and Territorial Health Officials
Robert Bernstein, PhD
President and Chief Executive Officer
Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law
Matthew L. Myers
President
Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids
Michael F. Jacobson, PhD
Executive Director
Center for Science in the Public Interest
Victor Colman, JD
Director
Childhood Obesity Prevention Coalition
Catherine Dunham
Executive Director
Children’s Dental Health Project
Emily J. Holubowich
Executive Director
Coalition for Health Funding
Linda P. Fried, MD, MPH
Dean and DeLamar Professor of Public Health
Senior Vice President, Columbia University Medical Center
Professor of Epidemiology and Medicine
Gerard M. Farrell
Captain, U.S. Navy (Ret.)
Executive Director, Commissioned Officers Association of the U.S. Public Health Service, Inc.
Vincent Lafronza
President
CommonHealth ACTION
Robert Restuccia
Executive Director
Community Catalyst
Debra Fraser Howze
Senior Vice President, Orasure Technologies
Corporate Hepatitis Alliance
Hrant Jamgochian
Executive Director
Dialysis Patient Citizens
Susan Goekler
Executive Director
Directors of Health Promotion and Education 8
Bruce Menin
Executive Director
Disability Policy Consortium
Alice Chen, MD
Executive Director
Doctors for America
Leslie Spencer
Interim Chairperson
Health Promotion Advocates
Andrea Weddle
Executive Director
HIV Medicine Association
Deborah L. Wexler, MD
Executive Director
Immunization Action Coalition
Thomas G. Slama, MD, FIDSA
President
Infectious Diseases Society of America
William P. Gallagher Jr., DC
Director
INSPIREHealth.org
Dr. Jennifer L. Howse
President
March of Dimes
Harry MacMillan
President
MEND Foundation
David L. Shern, PhD
President and Chief Executive Officer
Mental Health America
Rev. Dr. Nancy Wilson
Presiding Moderator
Metropolitan Community Churches
Julie Scofield
Executive Director
National Alliance of State & Territorial AIDS Directors
Linda Juszczak, DNSc, MPH, MS, CPNP
President
National Assembly on School-Based Health Care
Patricia W. Potrzebowski, Ph.D.
Executive Director
National Association for Public Health Statistics and Information Systems
John Robitscher
Chief Executive Officer
National Association of Chronic Disease Directors
Larry E. Naake
Executive Director
National Association of Counties
Robert M. Pestronk
Executive Director
National Association of County and City Health Officials
Ron Manderscheid, PhD
Executive Director
National Association of County Behavioral Health and Developmental Disability Directors
Marie Fallon, EdD
Chief Executive Officer
National Association of Local Boards of Health
Matthew Lesieur
Vice President for Policy
National Association of People with AIDS
Susan Vaughn
Director of Public Policy
National Association of State Head Injury Administrators
Hutson W. Inniss
Executive Director
National Coalition for LGBT Health
Melissa Merson
Executive Director
National Coalition for Promoting Physical Activity
William Smith
Executive Director
National Coalition of STD Directors
John Rother
President and Chief Executive Officer
National Coalition on Health Care
Linda Rosenberg
President and Chief Executive Officer
National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare
Eric Rodriguez
Vice President, Office of Research, Advocacy, and Legislation
National Council of La Raza
James Firman
President and Chief Executive Officer
National Council on Aging
Mel Knight, REHS
President
National Environmental Health Association
Keith Mason
Executive Director
National Forum for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention 11
Lark Galloway-Gilliam
Convener
National Health Equity Coalition
Jeannette Noltenius, MA, PhD
National Director
National Latino Tobacco Control Network
David Chatel
Executive Vice President of Advocacy
National Multiple Sclerosis Society
Joseph Kimbrell, MA, MSW
President and Chief Executive Officer
National Network of Public Health Institutes
Tine Hansen-Turton
Chief Executive Officer
National Nursing Centers Consortium
Lark Galloway-Gilliam
Chair
National REACH Coalition
Barbara Tulipane
President and CEO
National Recreation and Park Association
Debbie Chang, MPH
Vice President, Policy and Prevention
Nemours
Astril Webb, MD
Director, Health and Family Services Division
North American Management
Linda Bailey
President and CEO
North American Quitline Consortium
Michael Mawby
Chief Government Affairs Officer
Novo Nordisk
Hardy Spoehr
Executive Director
Papa Ola Lokahi (Native Hawaiian Health Board)
Jud Richland, MPH
President and Chief Executive Officer
Partnership for Prevention
Daniel T. Lichter
President
Population Association of America
Jennifer Pennock
Director, Government Affairs
Prevent Blindness America
Carolyn Aldige
President and Founder
Prevent Cancer Foundation
Danny Saggese
Chairman
Prevention Connections
Larry Cohen, MSW
Founder and Executive Director
Prevention Institute
Ron Bialek
President
Public Health Foundation
Mary A. Pittman, DrPH
President and Chief Executive Officer
Public Health Institute
Marice Ashe, JD, MPH
Executive Director
Public Health Law & Policy
Ellen Rautenberg
President and CEO Public Health Solutions
Kevin Mills
Vice President of Policy and Trail Development
Rails-to-Trails Conservancy
Cindy Pearson
Co-Founder
Raising Women’s Voices for the Health Care We Need
Jeff Jordan
President and Founder
Rescue Social Change Group
David Auxter
Director
Research Institute for Independent Living
Robert Valdez
Executive Director
RWJF Center for Health Policy
Deborah Hubsmith
Director
Safe Routes to School National Partnership
Amber Williams
Executive Director
Safe States Alliance
John Santelli, MD, MPH
President
Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine
Elaine Auld
Chief Executive Officer
Society for Public Health Education 14
Becky Vaughn
Chief Executive Officer
State Associations of Addiction Services
Mickey Urdea
Chief Scientific Officer and Chairman
Tethys Bioscience, Inc.
Peter V. Berns
Chief Executive Officer
The Arc of the US
Rev. Pat Bumgardner
Executive Director
The Global Justice Institute
Sam Blair
Network Director
The Main Street Alliance
Harriette Fox
Chief Executive Officer
The National Alliance to Advance Adolescent Health
Jan E. Patterson, MD, MS
President, SHEA
The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America
Jeffrey Levi, PhD
Executive Director
Trust for America’s Health
Ed Foster-Simeon
President and Chief Executive Officer
U.S. Soccer Foundation
Jeanne Blankenship
Chair
United States Breastfeeding Committee 15
William H. Bentley
President and Chief Executive Officer
Voices for America’s Children