Press Release on health-related topics.
April 14, 2018
by Steven Ross Johnson
Modern Healthcare
“While immediate savings may seem beneficial now, they will evaporate quickly when the nation gets the bill for poor health and nutrition, John Auerbach, president and CEO for Trust for America’s Health, said in a written statement.
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Washington, D.C., April 12, 2018 – The below is a statement from John Auerbach, president and CEO, of Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) on release of “Farm Bill” draft legislation (the Agriculture and Nutrition Act of 2018 (H.R. 2)) to reauthorize key federal agricultural and nutrition programs.
“The Trust for America’s Health is seriously concerned about the draft Farm Bill legislation released today by the House Agriculture Committee, noting that many proposals could weaken or eliminate coverage and benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
While immediate savings may seem beneficial now, they will evaporate quickly when the nation gets the bill for poor health and nutrition. In addition, when children are hungry they do more poorly in schools and, when adults are under-nourished, they are less productive in their jobs. As such, SNAP and other nutrition assistance programs can help curb healthcare costs in the future while providing immediate economic benefits to communities.
Increasingly, states, cities and other partners are piloting and scaling programs and policies that help SNAP recipients access healthier food options. Proposals that would roll back eligibility and otherwise shrink enrollment will create new health risks for a population of Americans that are already at greater risk of malnutrition. And, without nutrition supplemental programs like SNAP there may actually be increases in obesity because families will be forced to buy the least expensive food, which are often filled with excess calories and have low nutritional value.
According to State of Obesity, obesity remains a significant public health crisis and a national security issue—being overweight or obese is the leading cause of medical disqualifications for military service, with nearly one-quarter of applicants being rejected for exceeding the weight or body fat standards.
Quite simply, while this legislation will directly harm our nation’s most valuable and vulnerable, everyone will shoulder the pain—from lack of education attainment to lack of economic development to lack of national security.
TFAH looks forward to working with Congress and partners to help develop a Farm Bill that will benefit, not harm, Americans’ health.”
Trust for America’s Health is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to saving lives by protecting the health of every community and working to make disease prevention a national priority.
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March 26, 2018
by Steven Reinberg
U.S. News & World Report/HealthDay
“There is a strong correlation between drug use and overdoses and social and economic factors in the lives of people,” said Auerbach, who wasn’t connected to the study. “As we grapple with opioids, we have to think about more than just treatment and overdose, we also need to think about the social determinants of drug addiction and overdose.”
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March 22, 2018
by Julia Belluz
Vox
“[Redfield] has his fans and his detractors,” said John Auerbach, president and CEO of the public health nonprofit the Trust for America’s Health. “For me the most important thing is his ability to support and advocate for the CDC and its important work. I wish him and the agency the best with regard to that goal.”
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March 21, 2018
by Mike Stobbe
New York Times/Associated Press
John Auerbach, president of Trust for America’s Health, a Washington, D.C. based public health research and advocacy organization, said: “The most important thing is his ability to go into the agency, get up to speed, and make the case for CDC and its vitally important work. If he’s able to do that, ultimately that’s how his leadership will be judged.”
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March 21, 2018
by Lena Sun
Washington Post
“You want someone leading the organization who has been tested,” John Auerbach, president and chief executive of Trust for America’s Health, a public health nonprofit, said late last week. “You wouldn’t want them to spend a year of their lives learning about the agency they’re overseeing. In a crisis, we need someone who can hit the ground running.”
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March 18, 2018
Philanthropy News Digest
As it has for a decade, federal funding for public health remained flat in fiscal year 2017, a report from the Trust for America’s Health finds.
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March 16, 2018
by Lena Sun
Washington Post
“You want someone leading the organization who has been tested,” said John Auerbach, president and chief executive of Trust for America’s Health, a public health nonprofit. “You wouldn’t want them to spend a year of their lives learning about the agency they’re overseeing. In a crisis, we need someone who can hit the ground running.”
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March 14, 2018
by Maggie Fox
NBC News
This year, a report from the Trust for America’s Health and the Well Being Trust found an 11 percent increase in deaths from drug or alcohol overdoses and from suicide from 2015 to 2016, and called them “despair deaths.”
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March 14, 2018
by Steven Reinberg
HealthDay
“We have released data that cover 2015 and 2016, and see that these trends have intensified,” said John Auerbach, president and chief executive officer of the Trust for America’s Health.
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