Call Congress – don’t raid the Prevention Fund to pay for other critical health programs.

Later this week, the U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote on the CHAMPION Act. This bill would reauthorize essential health programs, including funding for community health centers and the National Health Service Corps. However, the current bill pays for these programs by raiding $6.35 billion from the Prevention and Public Health Fund. 

We fully support efforts to reauthorize these programs but not by using money that supports community health efforts in all 50 states, including lead abatement, chronic disease prevention, immunizations, disaster preparedness, and much more.  

As physician and Congressman Raul Ruiz said when the bill was marked up in committee last week, “We don’t have to support programs that are vital to the health of our communities by paying for them on the backs of other important programs such as critical mental health, diabetes prevention and vaccination programs. That’s just robbing Peter to pay Paul. Underserved communities must have access to the full spectrum of high-quality, affordable healthcare.”

Please call your representatives today and tell them we need a bipartisan bill that fully funds community health centers, the National Health Service Corps, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, AND the Prevention and Public Health Fund. The Capitol switchboard number is (202) 224-3121. As our partners at Trust for America’s Health point out, the best chance of reauthorizing these critical health programs in a timely way is for the House to move forward with another source of funding that is acceptable to both sides.

Thanks for making this important call. We know it’s not the first call you’ve made, and it probably won’t be the last. And thank you for sharing this alert with your colleagues and friends.