Please Protect the Prevention and Public Health Fund

Partnership for Prevention urges you to immediately contact your US Senator and ask that they oppose amendment # 4531 to the Small Business Jobs and Credit Act to be offered next month by Senator Mike Johanns (R-Neb). The amendment would divert billions in critically needed funding from the National Prevention and Public Health Fund. They have already written each member of the Senate but will need your voice to assure maximum impact.

The Prevention and Public Health Fund was enacted as part of health reform (Public Law 111-148, the “Affordable Care Act) to meet vital national public health and prevention needs. Rising rates of chronic disease such as obesity, cancer, diabetes and heart disease are driving the cost of health care higher. Chronic and often preventable diseases, such as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes are responsible for 7 of 10 deaths among Americans each year and account for 75 percent of the nation’s health spending. Our ability to reduce the incidence of chronic disease will be heavily influenced by the programs intended to be funded from this new program established by Public Law 111-148; the “Affordable Care Act.”

The state of public health in our country is threatened by unprecedented funding reductions such as those proposed by the Johanns Amendment. Indeed, there are growing concerns that the rise in obesity over the past twenty years now threatens to create a reality where today’s generation of children may not live as long as their parents.

Please contact your Senator and urge they oppose this amendment because it will endanger public health and prevention funding. If you need assistance on how to reach or communicate with your Senate offices, contact Partnership for Prevention's Director of Government Relations, Ripley Forbes, at rforbes@prevent.org.