Submit a Letter of Intent by June 28 for New Prevention Funding from CMMI

Last Friday, Prevention Institute, Public Health Institute and Trust for America’s Health co-hosted a webinar on opportunities to advance community prevention through a $1 billion funding program offered by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI). Grants will be awarded to support the piloting of new payment and healthcare delivery models that improve health, reduce costs, and deliver better care to people enrolled in government insurance programs. In the webinar, attended by over 700 people, we focused on a funding category for “models that improve the health of populations” and emphasize clinical-community partnerships, wellness, and prevention.

Like the Prevention and Public Health Fund, this program offers a chance to shift our health system from a focus on sick-care to wellness and prevention. CMMI is looking for new ways to improve population health and for proposals based on partnerships that could include community-based organizations and coalitions, research institutions and local governments as well as provider groups, hospitals, and insurers. Funding in the Population Health category could support community health improvement efforts now underway outside of clinic walls. We encourage you to talk with provider organizations and health advocates in your community to explore the possibility of submitting a joint proposal. If a large number of strong applications are submitted, it will reinforce that improving population health is a top priority. We hope you will consider applying, and please let us know if you do.

Here are some of the key takeaways from the webinar:

• These funds offer an unprecedented opportunity to demonstrate that prevention strategies many of us have been developing and pushing for years—things like joint use of recreational space, bringing farmer’s markets and fresh food to neighborhoods that are “food deserts,” asthma prevention efforts and active transportation—can keep people healthy and reduce the need for expensive treatment.
• The Letter of Intent doesn’t bind you to submit a full proposal or keep you from changing its focus but is required in order to have the option to apply. If you have any interest in this funding, we recommend that you submit a Letter of Intent to keep your options open. You can change the specifics of your proposal after the letter has been submitted.
• While the application process does require a substantial level of detail, it is doable. We hope you will consider Prevention Institute as a resource as you shape your final application.

Here are some things you can do to emphasize the importance of CMMI’s population health category:

• Apply for an award under the population health category. In order to be eligible to apply, you must submit a Letter of Intent by 3 pm EDT on June 28th. You can find the Letter of Intent online form here.
• Let us know if you plan to apply. We would love to talk to you about how to incorporate community prevention in your application.
• Share this opportunity widely. Forward this email, and help spread the word that this is an important way to build the evidence base for prevention.