Laurie Andrews, President Board of Health, Central District Health Department, is urging Sen. Mike Johanns, R-Neb., to reconsider his amendment eliminating preventive health funding.

Andrew said the Affordable Care Act established a Prevention and Public Health Fund, with dedicated funding of $15 billion over the next ten years.

“This funding is directed toward testing new approaches to prevention and wellness; increasing state and local capacity to prevent, detect, and respond to outbreaks of infectious diseases; and facilitating community-based initiatives to prevent obesity, reduce tobacco use, and promote better nutrition and more physical activity, Andrew said.

Andrew said that Johanns’ amendment would eliminate all funding for the Prevention and Public Health Fund for fiscal years 2010-2017, taking away investments that could help reduce the incidence of chronic illness and infectious disease, improve overall health, and contain costs.

 Johanns’ amendment will be voted on by the Senate on September 14^th, when the senate session resumes.

Officials of Sen. Mike Johanns responded to Andrews’ comments saying that, ”It is critical to note that the Senator’s amendment is intended to provide relief to small businesses from an extremely burdensome paperwork requirement that was included in the health care bill as a mechanism to help pay for it. 

“The funding Senator Johanns proposes to delay is so unclearly designated in the one paragraph description that could be used to fund almost anything. In light of the fact that it will ultimately be allocated $2 billion per year in perpetuity, Senator Johanns does not feel that it is appropriate to spend that money without clear direction (thus his proposed delay). 

“Furthermore, the amendment does not prevent continued funding of billions of dollars Congress rightly provides each year through the normal appropriations process for immunizations, smoking cessation, obesity prevention and other health and wellness and prevention programs.

“There is not adequate direction regarding where these billions of dollars will be spent.  In a time when small business are literally folding, we should be focused on helping Americans find and keep living wage jobs.  In fact , a small business near you in Norfolk carefully research the implications of this 1099 provision and determined that it will cost them an additional $23,000 a year they don’t have just to comply with all the paperwork requirements.  This reporting mandate included in the bill is a job and economy killer.  In regard to the prevention fund, guidelines and oversight must be more clearly defined before the taxpayers begin to fund this to the tune of $2 billion a year.”