March 22, 2010—We did it. With the heroic and historic steps toward health reform that were taken yesterday, communities across the country will be able to start building better health tomorrow. Health reform represents a major step forward in supporting those with greatest need, and by insuring more coverage for more people.
And we won't be waiting around: prevention money will be funneled directly towards communities in the coming months. The minute the president signs the health reform bill, approximately $15 billion dollars dedicated to community prevention will be made available to expand and sustain national investment in prevention and public health programs over the next ten years.
About a half billion of this will move directly to US communities immediately, through community grants that will be dedicated by the end of September and which will be used to reduce chronic disease and injury rates and promote equity. Prevention Institute is gratified to see the federal government recognizing the critical role of prevention in saving money, saving lives, and building equity in communities across the country.
Here are our recommendations for next steps from the Federal Government:
- Expand the understanding and funding of prevention, focusing not just on chronic disease prevention, but including other community concerns such as violence prevention and other safety issues, where communities would benefit from prevention.
- Make sure that part of the prevention money to be disbursed by September goes towards the ARRA proposals that were approved last week, but for whom there was simply not enough funding.
- Set aside significant additional resources to fund and build capacity in those communities where there is a vital need for prevention work, but where skills and expertise need further development.
Our thanks to the prevention community and our partners in prevention. Your calls, letters and commitment to quality prevention helped make this a reality. Particular thanks go to Senator Tom Harkin for his role in making sure that community health and equity stayed a priority in the health reform process.