Archives: Stories

Story article on health-related topics.

National Immunization Month Highlights Lifesaving Benefits of Vaccines

August 2024

National Immunization Awareness Month sponsored by the National Public Health Information Coalition (NPHIC) and observed every August, highlights the lifesaving benefits of vaccines. During the month, activities will raise awareness of the importance of vaccinating people of all ages against serious and sometimes deadly diseases. The awareness month also celebrates the successes of immunizations and educates Americans about vaccine safety and effectiveness.

According to a study by the Commonwealth Fund, from December 2020 through November 2022, COVID-19 vaccines prevented approximately 18.5 million hospitalizations and 3.2 million deaths in the U.S., but the lifesaving impact of vaccines extends far beyond COVID-19. Vaccines have dramatically reduced the spread of diseases like measles, polio, and whooping cough, protecting countless individuals and communities.

According to new data published this month by the CDC, among children born during 1994-2023, routine childhood vaccinations will have prevented about 508 million cases of illness, 32 million hospitalizations, and 1,129,000 deaths over the course of their lifetimes.

Unfortunately, numerous factors have led to a decline in vaccination rates in recent years including healthcare disruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic and the spread of misinformation about vaccine safety and effectiveness. In some cases, this has resulted in outbreaks of once-controlled diseases, including measles and to a lesser degree polio, jeopardizing the progress we have made.

According to the American Association of Immunologists, getting vaccinated protects against the spread of infectious diseases by helping our immune systems fight infection. Vaccines work by introducing a weakened or inactive form of a virus or bacteria to the body. This triggers the immune system to develop antibodies, creating a kind of shield against future infection. When a large portion of the population is vaccinated, it creates “herd” or community-level immunity, making it difficult for diseases to spread, even protecting those who haven’t been vaccinated themselves.

The public health benefits of vaccines include:

Disease Prevention: Vaccines are highly effective at preventing serious illnesses like measles, mumps, rubella, polio, diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, chickenpox, shingles, influenza, and pneumonia. These diseases can cause severe complications, hospitalization, and even death.

Reduced Healthcare Costs: Vaccines are a cost-effective way to prevent illness and its associated medical expenses. Vaccination programs save billions of dollars in healthcare costs each year.

Protection for Populations at Higher Risk: Vaccines are especially important for protecting those with developing immune systems (infants) or weakened immune systems, such as older adults and people with certain chronic illnesses.

Global Health Impact: Vaccination programs have had a significant impact on global health. They have helped to virtually eliminate smallpox and dramatically reduced the burden of other diseases worldwide.

To build on and sustain the health benefits of vaccines, TFAH’s 2024 Ready or Not: Protecting the Public’s Health from Diseases, Disasters, and Bioterrorism report includes a number of important recommended policy actions to strengthen the nation’s vaccine infrastructure:

  • Increased Funding: Congress should provide at least $1.1 billion per year to support vaccine infrastructure and delivery, including programs promoting equitable vaccine distribution.
  • Insurance Coverage: Congress and states should ensure first-dollar coverage for recommended vaccines under commercial insurance and for uninsured populations.
  • Minimizing Exemptions: States should minimize vaccine exemptions for schoolchildren, and healthcare facilities should increase vaccination rates of healthcare workers.
  • New Vaccine Development: Congress should create incentives for new-product discovery to prevent and fight resistant infections including therapeutics, diagnostics, and prevention products such as vaccines.
  • Strengthening Influenza Defenses: Congress should strengthen the pipeline of influenza vaccines, diagnostics, and therapeutics.
  • Countering Vaccine Misinformation:The spread of misinformation about vaccines can lead to vaccine hesitancy and lower vaccination rates. TFAH calls for promoting accurate information from trusted sources to increase vaccine confidence.

According to research published in The Lancet, since 1974, vaccination has prevented 154 million deaths worldwide. By ensuring equitable access to vaccines, promoting accurate information, and investing in research and education, we can continue to harness the power of vaccines and build a healthier future for all.

 

TFAH Recognizes Juneteenth

(Washington, DC – June 18th, 2024)

In honor of our mission to promote optimal health for every person and community, TFAH is proud to celebrate and recognize Juneteenth.

The Juneteenth federal holiday recognizes the end of Black enslavement in Texas in 1865 — a two-and-a half-year delay of freedom after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. The holiday celebrates the resilience and achievement of Black Americans and also serves as a reminder that structural racism, especially for Black Americans, continues to be a barrier to well-being and opportunity for many in this country.

TFAH is committed to advancing policies that ensure equitable access to the economic, social and environmental factors that allow people to enjoy optimal health. Supporting these efforts advances opportunities for communities of color facing structural disadvantage. That includes:

  • Make advancing health equity and eliminating health disparities a national priority.
  • Support community-driven, multisector efforts to address upstream drivers of poor health through CDC’s Social Determinants of Health and Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) Programs.
  • Invest in a diverse public health workforce and build the pipeline of workers, including through loan repayment and other recruiting and retention programs.
  • Ensure the public health infrastructure meets the needs of all communities, including complete, disaggregated data collection.
  • Ensure access to high-quality healthcare for all.
  • Create a national standard guaranteeing job-protected paid family, sick, and medical leave for all employees.
  • Expand efforts to protect against health impacts of climate change, including extreme heat, which disproportionately impact populations of color.
  • Increase nutrition security through successful programs like the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and alleviate poverty through tax credits for working families, such as Earned Income Tax Credit.
  • Center communities and people of color when developing health promoting strategies. Agencies and organizations should work with communities that are disproportionately impacted and incorporate their voice and lived experience in decision-making wherever possible.

Ensuring Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Mental Health Services Will Reduce Health Disparities and Promote Well-being

In 1966, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. famously condemned injustice in health as the most shocking of all forms of inequality.  As TFAH recognizes Mental Health Awareness Month almost 60 years later, populations of color and other underserved groups in the United States continue to experience disparities in behavioral health outcomes and the availability and quality of care.  By supporting and promoting culturally and linguistically appropriate services (or CLAS), however, policymakers can reduce these disparities and promote well-being for all Americans.

The Office of Minority Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) defines CLAS as services that are respectful of and responsive to cultural and communication needs, including through consideration of cultural health beliefs, health literacy levels, and preferred languages.  By incorporating CLAS, providers can ensure individuals and families receive respectful, understandable, effective, and equitable care.  Among other features, CLAS can involve recruiting and supporting a culturally and linguistically diverse workforce, offering language assistance to individuals with limited English proficiency, and collecting and maintaining accurate data to evaluate impacts on health equity and outcomes.

The U.S. mental health care system, specifically, has struggled to address the needs of culturally and linguistically diverse populations; as a result, racial and ethnic minority populations have historically been less likely to receive necessary mental health care and more likely to receive low-quality care.  In addition, these groups are more likely to use hospitals and inpatient facilities to address mental health needs instead of community-based services.  Across the healthcare system, non-white patients report lower quality patient-physician interactions, less participation in medical decision making, and lower overall satisfaction with care. Other social and economic factors like lack of health insurance, limited income, transportation barriers, and experiences of racism and bias also contribute to these outcomes. In addition, a recent report found that 50 percent of LGBTQ+ young people who wanted mental healthcare could not get it due, in part, to a lack of affordable options and fears of negative reactions or other consequences.

Racial and ethnic health disparities impose a high burden in the United States—one study found $451 billion in costs, including medical expenses, lost productivity, and premature death, for 2018 alone—but CLAS can significantly improve quality of care and advance equity.  One study found that the single most important factor for increasing use of mental health services for individuals with limited English language proficiency was access to providers speaking their native languages.  In addition, the use of peer support specialists and other lay health workers with community-specific experience can promote access to care and help to reduce dropout rates and boost attendance rates for patients during mental health treatment.  In Native communities, for example, these workers can help overcome practical barriers to mental healthcare like lack of transportation and reduce symptoms of depression and suicide-related outcomes.  An integrated care approach that coordinates a variety of services can also improve mental health outcomes for patients from racially and ethnically diverse populations.

The Biden-Harris Administration has undertaken significant efforts to support and enhance CLAS across the spectrum of behavioral healthcare.  The 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, which launched in July 2022, for example, has implemented specialized services for the LGBTQ+ population, and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration announced the addition of Spanish language text and chat services in July 2023.  In November 2023, the White House also released the U.S. Playbook to Address Social Determinants of Health.  This document outlines strategies to “support equitable health outcomes by improving the social circumstances of individuals and communities,” including the structural inequities that “often disproportionately impact historically underserved individuals.” The 2023 HHS Equity Action Plan similarly outlined measures to improve access to behavioral healthcare coverage for underserved populations, including by developing an inclusive workforce, promoting behavioral health integration, and enhancing language services.  Relatedly, in January 2024, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced the Innovation in Behavioral Health (IBH) Model, which will comprehensively address health-related social needs of Medicaid and Medicare populations with moderate to severe mental health conditions and substance use disorder.  Importantly, this model requires participating Medicaid agencies to develop a health equity plan to address disparities in the populations they serve.

Several recent Congressional initiatives have also focused on promoting CLAS in the behavioral health system.  The PEER Support Act, for example, would strengthen the peer support specialist workforce by ensuring accurate data reporting on the profession, supporting best practices on training and supervision, and addressing barriers to certification and practice.  In addition, the Pursuing Equity in Mental Health Act would help establish behavioral healthcare teams in areas with underserved populations, improve training and best practices for addressing mental health disparities, and enhance outreach to populations of color to promote mental health and reduce stigma.  Finally, the Health Equity and Accountability Act would help reduce health disparities by improving data reporting, supporting workforce diversity, and increasing access to CLAS.

TFAH encourages Administration officials and Congressional leaders to continue to bolster CLAS to improve behavioral health outcomes for populations of color and other underserved groups. These improvements will not only help address the high cost of health disparities in the United States but will also support foundational changes to improve access and outcomes in the future.

 

 

TFAH Celebrates Older Americans Month: Powered by Connection

In his presidential proclamation designating May as Older Americans’ Month, President Joe Biden said “Older Americans are the backbone of our Nation. They have built the foundation that we all stand upon today”.

This annual celebration, first declared in 1963, provides the opportunity to not only recognize older Americans’ contributions to our society, but also to highlight challenges and reaffirm our commitment to serving older adults across the country.

This year’s theme, “Powered by Connection,” helps us focus on the profound impact that meaningful connections have on everyone’s well-being and health, including older adults. The  U.S. Surgeon General’s 2023 Advisory on the Healing Effects of Social Connection and Community underscores the importance of this engagement. While social isolation can have the same effect as smoking 15 cigarettes a day, a study in Scientific American found that strong social connections can boost a person’s lifespan by 50 percent!

The public health sector is leading in many states and communities to enhance connectedness among older adults, recognizing the value of engagement for people’s health and well-being. Many organizations are leading efforts to build inclusive neighborhoods and to include policies for mitigating social isolation into state and community health improvement plans. Public health agencies are partnering with area agencies on aging, YMCAs, or other community-based organizations to improve access to facilities and programs that provide services to older adults, particularly those in underserved communities. Some are leading efforts to pilot and expand intergenerational programs, connecting older people with younger individuals who provide training on technology, for example. Local health departments are partnering with parks and recreation, transportation, and housing colleagues to build inclusive public spaces and ensure they have adequate lighting, space, and other features to bolster safety for older adults and their families.

Trust for America’s Health’s Age-Friendly Public Health Systems 6Cs Framework offers a practical guide for public health actions to improve social connectedness:

  • Creating and leading changes in social isolation and loneliness among older adults by improving awareness of the health implications and motivating existing older adult systems and infrastructures to address social isolation.
  • Connecting multi-sector partners to strengthen ties between healthcare systems and community-based networks and resources addressing older adult social isolation and loneliness.
  • Collecting data and developing a more robust evidence base on the implications and importance of addressing social isolation.
  • Coordinating existing programs for older adults to improve screening, access and service delivery to older adults and strengthen ongoing education and training on social isolation.
  • Communicating how to translate current research into healthcare practices to support the reduction of social isolation among older adults.
  • Complementing existing aging services to reach older adults where they are to reduce social isolation.

Social engagement is not just about having someone to chat with. It’s about the transformative potential of community engagement in enhancing mental, physical, and emotional well-being. By recognizing and nurturing the role that connectedness plays, we can mitigate issues like loneliness, ultimately promoting health across the life span for all Americans.

Mind, Body, and Soul: Supporting Mental Health through Physical Fitness and Sports

May is National Physical Fitness and Sports Month, a designation recognized each year by the President since 1983.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP) and the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness & Nutrition (PCSFN) are highlighting how physical activity and sports benefit  both physical and mental health.

It is well documented that physical activity and sports participation help prevent chronic diseases, as well as reduce stress, anxiety and promote mental health and well-being.

Obesity and suicide  rates have increased over the last two decades, particularly among youth, certain communities of color, and people living in rural areas. Providing equitable access to safe places and opportunities to be active in every community would give more people the means to improve their health.

Earlier this year, the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness & Nutrition unveiled a landmark partnership with 14 major professional sports leagues and players associations to expand access to physical activity, bolster education on nutrition, and promote healthy lifestyle activities to millions of Americans.

“Every individual and community should have equitable access to opportunities to be physically active. Multisector collaborations, such as among public health, transportation, schools, sports leagues, and community-based organizations will improve access to physical activity for all,” said J. Nadine Gracia, M.D., MSCE, president and CEO of Trust for America’s Health and a member of the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness & Nutrition.

Several events are planned throughout the month, including Bike to Work Day on May 17.

Learn more about ways to be physically active by visiting the Move Your Way website.

Federal Government and States Take Action to Protect Black Maternal Health

The death of three-time Olympian Tori Bowie due to complications from childbirth in 2023 was yet another tragic loss.  Her death and that of far too many women highlight the disturbing maternal health crisis in the United States.

Despite having the highest healthcare spending among high-income countries, the United States has the highest maternal mortality rate among those countries. And this maternal health crisis is disproportionately impacting Black women, Native American women, and women in rural areas.

Roughly 700 women in the U.S. die each year from pregnancy-related or childbirth complications, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Many of these deaths are preventable. The maternal mortality rate for Black women is almost three times greater than that of white women over the last decade.

Black Maternal Health Week is recognized each year from April 11-17 to bring attention and action improving Black maternal health.  It also coincides with April being National Minority Health Month.

The call to take action on Black maternal health has reached the highest levels of the U.S. government. The White House Blueprint for Addressing The Maternal Health Crisis  outlines actions the Biden-Harris Administration will take to improve maternal health, all rooted in a focus on health equity. The action steps include increasing access to and coverage of comprehensive high-quality maternal healthcare, advancing data and research on maternal health issues, expanding and diversifying the perinatal workforce, and strengthening economic and social supports for pregnant people and families.

States are also responding with innovative and collaborative solutions that could revolutionize how the country supports expecting mothers.

New Jersey is one such example.  The state rolled out a comprehensive plan in 2021 to address maternal health, especially for mothers and babies of color. Nurture New Jersey was launched by the state’s first lady, Tammy Murphy, and was informed by years-long, science-based, multisector planning. The final report includes actionable commitments to build and improve racial equity and community infrastructure, engage multiple public and private sectors to achieve collective impact on health, and strategies to shift narratives and mindsets around maternity.

Murphy initiated an annual Black Maternal and Infant Health Summit, bringing together stakeholders from healthcare, academia, and community-based organizations. The state has made efforts to improve access to midwifery services and to improve the workforce pipeline. And the state issues a maternal health hospital report card that grades every licensed birthing facility to provide residents with another layer of information during their family planning.

New Jersey has the fourth highest maternal mortality rates in the nation with 46 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births, as reported in the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security’s 2020 U.S. Women, Peace and Security Index. For Black women within the state, that rate rises to 132 deaths per 100,000 live births. The state’s plan calls for reducing maternal mortality rates by 50 percent.

Other states have used targeted strategies to address specific areas of concern.

Forty-six states, including the District of Columbia, have extended Medicaid postpartum coverage from 60 days to 12 months, and two other states are planning to implement a 12 month extension. The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 gave states the option to extend coverage. More than half of births to individuals of color are covered by Medicaid.

More than half of states allow Medicaid to cover doula services. Many of women of color choose doulas during their pregnancy for more personal support and due to concerns about implicit and explicit bias that exists within the healthcare system.

Other actions states can take to improve maternal care include postpartum coverage extension. To date, numerous states have introduced legislation to extend such coverage and two have succeeded: California and Texas.  In addition, states should prioritize Medicaid applications for pregnant people as Hawaii and Rhode Island have done.

By using the governmental, community, and cultural resources such as doulas and midwives to support Black women and families during pregnancy, the U.S. has the opportunity to vastly improve maternal health care and outcomes.

 

 

 

TFAH’s 2023 – 2026 Strategic Plan

The Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) 2023 – 2026 Strategic Plan provides a roadmap for our work to advance policymaking that promotes optimal health for every person and community. The plan details four priorities, and objectives within each, to support the nation’s public health system, address the social and economic drivers of health, emphasize prevention, and advance health equity.

Strategic Priority 1:  A strong, resilient, trusted, and equitable public health system that addresses our nation’s public health opportunities and challenges.

Strategic Priority 2:  Innovation that drives systemic change to promote and protect health and well-being for all.

Strategic Priority 3:  The advancement of health equity in public health and prevention.

Strategic Priority 4:  A dynamic, sought-after, people-centered organization that is thriving.

The plan is the culmination of an extensive process that engaged our Board of Directors, staff, partners, and other stakeholders. It builds upon TFAH’s current strengths as well as identifies opportunities to strengthen the public health system and support community conditions that advance health and well-being.

TFAH Celebrates National Public Health Week

April 1-7, 2024 is National Public Health Week. This year’s theme is Protecting, Connecting and Thriving: We Are All Public Health and TFAH is proud to celebrate and recognize all of the individuals, organizations, and agencies that work to protect health, advance equity, and promote well-being in communities nationwide.

Public health workers are on the front lines helping communities prevent chronic diseases and substance misuse, defending against disease outbreaks, protecting our water supply, and preparing for and responding to natural and human-caused disasters. Their work is constant and critically important to improving and protecting the health and safety of all communities.

Examples of the contributions of the public health system to advancing Americans’ health are many, including:

  • Increasing life expectancy – Americans’ life expectancy steadily increased during the 20th century and through 2009 the first decade of the 21st century, was flat between 2010 and 2018 the next decade, and declined during the COVID-19 pandemic. The latest available data, for 2022, showed a slight rebound in the life expectancy trendline.
  • Delivering vaccines – the 20th and beginning of the 21st centuries saw substantial decreases in vaccine preventable diseases such as measles and polio thanks in part to public health programs to ensure vaccine access, particularly in underserved communities.
  • Promoting maternal and infant health – programs to support pregnant people have created improved access to prenatal, post-partum, and infant healthcare, but more work needs to be done to address racial and ethnic disparities in maternal and postpartum health outcomes.
  • Helping people who smoke quit – the initial phase of the Centers for Disease Control’s Tips from Former Smokers campaign (2012 – 2018) helped more than one million people successfully stop smoking, which has prevented an estimated 129,000 early deaths and saved approximately $7.3 billion in smoking-related healthcare costs.
  • Protecting health during extreme heat – extreme heat threatens the public’s health. Several U.S. jurisdictions have heat response plans, and others are working on creating such plans. Heat response plans outline actions to mitigate the impact of the increasing number and intensity of heatwaves.

“Public health practitioners work tirelessly to prevent disease, prepare for and respond to disasters, address health disparities, and create healthy communities. This vital work deserves support and requires investment to fully fund the public health infrastructure and its workforce,” said Dr. J. Nadine Gracia, M.D. MSCE, President and CEO of Trust for America’s Health.

Most of the money spent on healthcare in the U.S. goes toward preventable illnesses and injuries. Increased and sustained funding for public health would be an investment in prevention and would help to reduce healthcare spending over time. TFAH has called for $4.5 billion annually to adequately fund public health infrastructure across the country.  As the White House and Congress work on FY 2025 appropriations, lawmakers should support the full range of work the CDC and health departments do every day to keep communities safe and healthy.

A different public health theme is highlighted each day during National Public Health Week. Visit the American Public Health Association and to access information and resources on each topic.

The Affordable Care Act at 14: Preserve the Progress

This March marks the 14th anniversary of the enactment of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Its passage was the most significant advancement of health policy since the establishment of Medicare and Medicaid in the 1960s and made healthcare accessible and affordable for millions more Americans.  Despite efforts to repeal and restrict the ACA, the progress the legislation has made toward health equity and improving public health prevention is significant and lifesaving. It must be preserved.

The ACA was signed into law in March 2010 during the 110th Congress. Some of the major provisions of the legislation include the creation of a public marketplace for health insurance, expansion of Medicaid eligibility to many adults with low incomes, coverage of recommended preventive services, and the establishment of the Prevention and Public Health Fund.

In the decade leading up to the ACA’s passage, the percentage of people without health insurance steadily increased, reaching over 16 percent of all U.S. residents in 2010, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Preventive services such as mammograms and other cancer screenings, diabetes screenings, and vaccinations were a costly expense and not easily accessible for a significant number of Americans.

Health insurance enrollment has soared in the years since the Affordable Care Act became law. Forty states and D.C. have expanded Medicaid. As a result, many of those states saw a significant decrease in the share of people without insurance. Nationally, the percentage of uninsured adults between 18-65 steadily decreased to 12.2 percent in 2022, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Uninsurance rates also dropped significantly for Black, Latino, and Asian Americans, and for households with lower-incomes.

Medicaid expansion has had significant benefits related to greater health insurance coverage. Mortality rates declined in states that expanded Medicaid eligibility to more adults with low incomes, according to a 2021 study (using data from before COVID-19 was declared a public health emergency). Expansion has contributed to healthcare affordability, access and utilization of care, financial security, and positive impacts on state economies.

Additionally, the ACA ensured access to vital preventive care and screenings without a copay. Prior to the ACA, many health plans failed to cover preventive services, and those that did often required individuals to pay a share of the costs. Even small out-of-pocket payments have been shown to deter people from accessing preventive services, particularly people with lower incomes.

The creation of the Prevention and Public Health Fund (PPHF) has been an important tool for improving health outcomes and reducing health expenditures. To date, PPHF has provided over $12 billion to states and territories to expand access to immunizations, strengthen detection of diseases, and prevent chronic diseases. One program supported by PPHF, the Tips from Former Smokers Campaign, has helped one million smokers quit for good, preventing an estimated 129,000 early deaths.

Yet, the ACA’s progress continues to be at risk.

Ten states have yet to expand Medicaid eligibility. And the current unwinding of continuous Medicaid enrollment that was authorized during the COVID-19 public health emergency has left many individuals and families without health coverage.

Litigation currently moving through the courts threatens access to preventive services. TFAH joined other public health organizations and scholars in an amicus brief describing the potential harms of overturning ACA’s preventive services coverage requirements. Should the courts overturn part or all of this important protection, millions of Americans could lose access to these life-saving services.

An additional threat to the ACA’s impact is the use of monies that should be directed to the Prevention and Public Health Fund to other legislation or priorities. To date, nearly $13 billion has been redirected in this manner. Most recently, the proposed costs in the Protecting Health Care for All Patients Act of 2023 were offset by taking more than $1 billion from PPHF. TFAH was joined by more than 100 organizations in a letter opposing these cuts.

TFAH will continue to urge Congress to restore funding for the Prevention and Public Health Fund and protect access to preventive services.

The ACA is a critical catalyst toward the goal of ensuring the opportunity for optimal health for everyone. It has unlocked access to healthcare including preventive services for so many in this country, including those at the highest risk of poor health. We can’t afford to turn back.

What If Congress Adequately Funded Public Health?

You know the old adage, ‘those that don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it.’ Coming off the COVID-19 public health emergency that has thus far claimed the lives of 1.2 million Americans, there are discussions in Congress to significantly cut funding for public health initiatives to dangerously low levels – again. And it doesn’t have to be like this.

Why do we go through these bleak cycles when anchoring public health in policymaking is a win-win decision for everyone – from elected officials to individual constituents.

Federal public health funding is facing challenges on multiple fronts right now. Congress continues to negotiate appropriations bills for the 2024 fiscal year, which will have major implications for the next fiscal year and beyond. The current short-term funding agreement for Health and Human Services expires on March 22. If Congress passes another continuing resolution rather than new appropriations, it could trigger extreme, across-the-board cuts to non-defense spending.

First, continuing resolutions, which are short-term measures to fund the government at the previous year’s levels, negatively impact the systems we need to protect the nation’s health. And severe cuts triggered by failing to pass a long-term spending bill would be even more dangerous. TFAH has joined more 1,000 other organizations in urging Congress to pass a full-year funding bill using the bipartisan framework laid out in the Senate as a starting point for negotiations.

Secondly, the FY2024 bills proposed by the House and Senate for Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies – the main funding source for public health programs – are vastly different and neither addresses the chronic underfunding of public health. Congress has already rescinded hundreds of millions of dollars intended to shore up the public health workforce and readiness and response efforts. The Senate’s bill proposes a small cut to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the House version would cut about $1.6 billion from CDC’s budget. TFAH and partners have called for a $2.5 billion increase for CDC.

Finally, we continue to see proposals to cut the Prevention and Public Health Fund, a critical investment in programs ranging from immunizations to tobacco use prevention. If these proposals were to move forward, this would again push public health funding into the “bust” phase of a decades long “boom and bust” funding pattern.

The health, safety, and well-being of individuals and communities should be at the foundation of U.S. policy and be funded accordingly.

Imagine if we fully invested in the prevention of adverse childhood experiences, suicide, and substance misuse. Many communities would see suicide and overdose rates fall.

Imagine if we prevented the root causes of death, injury, and excess healthcare costs instead of spending trillions of dollars to treat preventable chronic conditions. Workers would be healthier and more productive, employers would face fewer financial burdens, and the nation would be more resilient and thriving.

Imagine if CDC, state, local, tribal, and territorial health departments had modern data systems instead of rudimentary spreadsheets to track the spread of diseases. This country could contain potential outbreaks in their earliest stages and save lives.

Much of our health and well-being is determined by economic, environmental, and societal factors. In the midst of a recent and troubling decrease in life expectancy, TFAH believes that investing in the foundations of public health and effective prevention programs is a critical and indispensable path forward to protecting and promoting the health of the nation.