II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 571 To fully fund the Prevention and Public Health Fund and reaffirm the importance of prevention in the United States healthcare system. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 3, 2021 Mr. BLUMENTHAL (for himself, Mrs. MURRAY, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. BROWN, Ms. SMITH, Mr. CASEY, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, and Ms. ROSEN) in- troduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Com- mittee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To fully fund the Prevention and Public Health Fund and reaffirm the importance of prevention in the United States healthcare system. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Public Health Funding 4 Prevents Pandemics Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 (1) The Prevention and Public Health Fund 8 (section 4002 of the Patient Protection and Afford- 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:04 Apr 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S571.IS S571 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 571 IS able Care Act (42 U.S.C. 300u–11)) was designed 1 ‘‘to provide for expanded and sustained national in- 2 vestment in prevention and public health programs 3 to improve health and help restrain the rate of 4 growth in private and public health care costs’’. 5 (2) Funding under such section is essential to 6 core efforts at the Department of Health and 7 Human Services and in State, local, Tribal, and ter- 8 ritorial health departments to prevent and control 9 the spread of infectious disease and prevent injuries 10 and the development of chronic conditions. 11 (3) Prevention and Public Health Fund dollars 12 support evidenced-based investments in tobacco use 13 prevention and cessation, nutrition, mental health, 14 childhood lead poisoning prevention, elder care ini- 15 tiatives, and immunizations, among other prevention 16 initiatives. Funding gives States and communities 17 the flexibility to respond to public health threats 18 that may be unique to their communities and bol- 19 sters the State, local, Tribal, and territorial response 20 to global public health threats, including COVID–19. 21 (4) Such prevention efforts have shown to be 22 effective. Funding increases for community-based 23 public health programs reduce infant deaths and 24 preventable deaths caused by cancer, diabetes, and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:04 Apr 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S571.IS S571 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 571 IS cardiovascular disease. Every dollar spent on preven- 1 tion saves nearly $6 in health spending and every 2 dollar spent on childhood vaccines saves $16.50 in 3 future health care costs. 4 (5) Investments in prevention reduce the cost of 5 health care in the United States. $2,900,000,000 in 6 investments in community-based disease prevention 7 is estimated to save $16,500,000,000 annually with- 8 in 5 years. 9 (6) Cuts to the Prevention and Public Health 10 Fund and other public health prevention efforts un- 11 dermine efforts to create an affordable and acces- 12 sible health care system, and a better quality of life 13 for Americans. 14 (7) Cuts to the Prevention and Public Health 15 Fund endanger the ability of States and localities to 16 distribute vaccines and public health information 17 successfully. The Prevention and Public Health 18 Fund is critical to the growth of the Centers for 19 Disease Control and Prevention’s immunization pro- 20 gram under section 317 of the Public Health Service 21 Act and to the Epidemiology and Laboratory Capac- 22 ity program. 23 (8) Restoring Prevention and Public Health 24 Fund funding to $2,000,000,000 annually will allow 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:04 Apr 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S571.IS S571 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 571 IS the Fund to invest in more innovative, evidence- 1 based public health programs and maintain and ex- 2 pand investments in programs with demonstrated 3 success. 4 (9) Restoring Prevention and Public Health 5 Fund funding to $2,000,000,000 will give the Cen- 6 ters for Disease Control and Prevention and State, 7 local, Tribal, and territorial health departments the 8 funding that they need to invest in prevention ef- 9 forts that will help the United States avoid future 10 pandemics and epidemics. 11 SEC. 3. PREVENTION AND PUBLIC HEALTH FUND. 12 Section 4002(b) of the Patient Protection and Af- 13 fordable Care Act (42 U.S.C. 300u–11(b)) is amended— 14 (1) in paragraph (4), by adding at the end 15 ‘‘and’’; and 16 (2) by striking paragraphs (5) through (9) and 17 inserting the following: 18 ‘‘(5) for fiscal year 2022 and each fiscal year 19 thereafter, $2,000,000,000.’’. 20 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:04 Apr 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S571.IS S571 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS