Friday, April 26, 2013

About that Prevention and Public Health Fund


It seems that the White House is getting itself into a little bit of a pickle.  Early this week the House GOP introduced a bill to take money from the slush fund Prevention and Public Health Fund to re-open the high risk pool. Almost immediately the White House issued a release that President Obama will veto the bill. He will veto it because:

"The Affordable Care Act created the Prevention and Public Health Fund to help prevent disease, detect it early, and manage conditions before they become severe. The Fund supports critical investments such as tobacco use reduction, and programs to reduce health-care-associated infections and the national burden of chronic disease, as well as helping to ensure Americans have access to affordable coverage for preventive benefits. By concentrating on the causes of chronic disease, the Fund helps more Americans stay healthy." 

So if this is what the fund is for then why is HHS taking $54 million from it to pay for Navigators? What about the $454 million that is being taken from the fund to pay for building the Federal Exchanges?

Inquiring minds want to know.
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