Threats to Public Health Under the American Health Care Act (AHCA)

Executive Summary

Evidence shows that funding public health initiatives not only improves health outcomes, it also reduces health care costs. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) contains several mechanisms to fund public health initiatives. The largest of these is the Prevention and Public Health Fund (PPHF). The PPHF was created by ACA to support programming to reduce the burden of preventable chronic disease and promote public health goals. To date, the PPHF has provided over $6.5 billion to public health prevention efforts in several areas. In this fact sheet, Health Law Fellow Daphne Wilson explains how massive funding cuts threaten to reduce or completely eliminate this vital program and what impact that would have on public health at the federal, state, and local level. This fact sheet was produced in collaboration with the Network for Public Health Law.