President Obama signed the health care reform bill into law this week. The Association of Schools of Public Health released an announcement on its Friday Letter, commending the President and Congress for the inclusion public health and workforce provisions.
"These provisions recognize the central role that our nation’s public health system plays in the health of our population, and underscore the importance of doing more than improving access to health care once someone becomes ill," the announcement read
The release describes the Prevention and Public Health Fund, included in the bill: Funding for prevention, wellness and public health activities this year will amount $500 million and will grow to $2 billion annually by 2015.
To read the full release, which includes links to the bill, the prevention-related provisions and a timeline for when the provisions will be enacted, click here.
The question is, do you think these prevention-related provisions will be effective?
In reading it over (thanks for the link), it looks like they've included good language. There will be evidence-based decisions, guidelines to insurers, and a lowering of barriers to wellness programs.
ReplyDeleteAs long as there is strong oversight and it is not derailed by politics, I think it has a good chance of succeeding. It will be at least a good established path in the right direction and it will provide data on which efforts work and which don't. We won't succeed unless we try.