Big Cities Health Coalition Denounces Move to Fund CHIP with Prevention Fund

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 22, 2017               

Congress Cutting Fund by $750 million

Washington, D.C. – The Big Cities Health Coalition criticized a move today by Congress to cut $750 million from the Prevention and Public Health Fund (PPHF) in order to provide temporary funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and community health centers. The PPHF provides essential support for local health departments across the country, which use the dollars to fight disease outbreaks, decrease lead poisoning in children, and provide immunizations.

“Children need community-based prevention programs and access to care. Cutting one to temporarily provide another is simply a reckless, false choice. Funding CHIP is absolutely essential to ensuring kids grow up healthy and strong, but preventing disease, lead poisoning and suffering is just as important, and cutting public health funding simply puts more kids at risk. 

“We received news this week that Americans’ life expectancy is going down instead of up, for the second year in a row. This should be alarming to all of our elected leaders, and a signal that our nation needs to get serious about our commitment to preventing disease, not cutting it.”

BCHC is a forum for the leaders of America’s largest metropolitan health departments to exchange strategies and jointly address issues to promote and protect the health and safety of their residents. Collectively, BCHC member jurisdictions directly impact more than 55 million people, or one in six Americans.

The Prevention Fund currently makes up 12% of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s budget and is a major source of funding for health and prevention activities in local communities and states.

The table below shows the projected size of the cuts in each fiscal year:

CONTACT: Max Mays mays@bigcitieshealth.org or 913-233-6830 

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About the Big Cities Health Coalition

The Big Cities Health Coalition (BCHC) is a forum for the leaders of America’s largest metropolitan health departments to exchange strategies and jointly address issues to promote and protect the health and safety of their residents. Collectively, BCHC member jurisdictions directly impact nearly 62 million people, or one in five Americans. For more information, visit https://www.bigcitieshealth.org.