Washington, DC -- Congressman Eliot Engel (D-NY-17) opposed the latest House Republican attack on the Affordable Care Act, by voting against the repeal of the Prevention and Public Health Fund.  H.R. 1217 would hurt the American people by hindering their ability to detect and prevent diseases, thus leading to higher costs in treating and increased risk of fatalities resulting from the diseases.

Rep. Engel is a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Health.  He was a strong supporter of the Affordable Care Act, and was a leader in moving in towards passage into law.  The Prevention and Public Health Fund is designed to assist community efforts to prevent disease, detect it early and manage conditions before they become severe.  Tens of millions of Americans suffer from preventable diseases, such as heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.  Preventative measures have been proven, over time, to save lives.

Nearly 600 groups and organizations oppose repealing the fund, including the American Heart Association, American Diabetes Association, American Lung Association and the American Cancer Society.

“It should not be a partisan position to say that prevention is one of the most effective ways to reduce health care costs in the long run – preventing disease is much less expensive than treating it.  Also, it is much more humane to keep people alive and healthy rather than trying to cure them of disease.   Eliminating the short-term cost of the program while ignoring the vast long-term savings is cutting off your nose to spite your face.  It makes no sense,” said Rep. Engel.

The Prevention and Public Health Fund is one of a number of Affordable Care Act initiatives that is already in place and producing positive results.  Currently, all 50 states and the District of Columbia are receiving Fund support.  These dollars are being used to support community-based initiatives to reduce tobacco use and obesity, prevent HIV infection, build epidemiology and laboratory capacity to track and respond to disease outbreaks, and train the public health workforce.

“Seventy-five percent of the two trillion dollars we spend on health care is spent on treating chronic diseases.  Obesity alone costs $147 billion.  Proven community-based diabetes prevention programs can save as much as $191 billion over 10 years.  It makes fiscal sense to invest in the health of Americans before we have to pay for their treatment,” added Rep. Engel.

Despite claims from the House majority that they do not support mandatory appropriations such as this one, it is not unique to Congress.  In fact, the GOP-led Congress added such payments in the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003.  In addition, the Affordable Care Act does not grant the Health and Human Services Secretary authority to allocate monies, as they have claimed, rather it gives the Secretary such authority only if Congress fails to act on allocating Fund dollars.

“This is just the latest in their attempts to use whatever rhetoric or gimmick they can find to attack the Affordable Care Act.  I believe the American people are on to their games and won’t stand for it any longer,” added Rep. Engel.

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