PHI Statement on House Appropriations Committee Short-term CR: “Pitting community health centers against the Prevention Fund is a lose-lose”

STATEMENT FROM NORA CONNORS, DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC POLICY AND PARTNERSHIPS

“The Public Health Institute is firmly opposed to the House Appropriations Committee’s latest short-term Continuing Resolution (CR) proposal, which drains the Prevention and Public Health Fund (Prevention Fund) to pay for community health centers and other programs. The Public Health Institute wholeheartedly supports funding for community health centers, but to do so at the expense of the public’s health is foolhardy and shortsighted.

“Currently, the Prevention Fund makes up more than ten percent of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s budget and supports some of our most basic and urgent public health needs. While the latest Continuing Resolution (CR) put forward by the House Appropriations Committee would temporarily restore cuts to the Prevention Fund made in the last short-term CR, the legislation would ultimately reduce the Fund by $2.85 billion over the next decade. This would significantly undercut our nation’s ability to protect the public from preventable diseases, the opioid crisis and existing and emerging epidemics.

“Pitting community health centers against the Prevention Fund is a lose-lose for health, equity and wellness, and vulnerable populations will suffer the most. Access to affordable, quality health care services like community health centers cannot come at the expense of basic coverage for public health, disease control and prevention. Both are vital to the nation’s health.”