The Prevention and Public Health Fund moves our country towards a system that improves health, saves lives, reduces costs and strengthens our country--we simply can't afford to go backwards. We need your leadership and ongoing engagement to protect prevention.
Use our tailored talking points to guide your conversation:
- Overall Message: Those who want to take away the Prevention Fund want to rob America of its future. The Prevention and Public Health Fund improves health, saves money and strengthens our country and economy by keeping communities, and our workforce, healthy in the first place. Cutting the Prevention Fund will cost money, not save it. Keep the Prevention Fund intact.
- Economic Argument: Congress wants to take away the billions of dollars that we'll save if prevention is put in place. Billions, with a "B". How can Congress refuse the 5-to-1 return on investment prevention affords? If Congress abandons the Prevention Fund, it is forcing local businesses to continue to spend $153 billion each year on chronic diseases that are preventable - monies local businesses could instead be spending to hire more workers, reinvest in the business, and support a vibrant, healthy workforce. Congress needs to be fiscally responsible and support the Prevention Fund so businesses can spend their resources on what matters to them.
- Equity Argument: It's hard to understand why Congress would turn its back on such cost savings. But even if we ignore those billions of dollars, the Prevention Fund is about much more than America's fiscal future. We must also remember that health inequities have put low-income communities and communities of color most at risk. The Prevention Fund brings prevention to all communities and ensures that every neighborhood fosters health, not disease. Without these meaningful investments in prevention, we will all be left behind. America's future depends on whether our children are ready in the classroom with a full belly and plenty of exercise. America's future depends on children today breathing air free of tobacco smoke or other toxins. Health is the foundation for a truly prosperous and sustainable future, and prevention ensures health.
- Ingenuity Argument: The fact is, preventing disease and injury in the first place is the smart way to ensure good health. When we use our collective resources to create environments for children and families - neighborhoods, schools, childcare centers, and workplaces - that support health, wellbeing, and safety, that's when we are at our best in school, at work, and with each other. It simply doesn't make sense - and is a waste of precious resources - to pay when someone is sick when we could pay much less to be sure they don't get sick in the first place.
