The AAMC joined more than 170 national, state, and local organizations in a Feb. 5 letter to House leadership opposing the proposed use of the Prevention and Public Health Fund as an offset for the Protecting Health Care for All Patients Act of 2023 (H.R. 485). The manager’s amendment, offered by House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), would cut a total of $1.19 billion from the prevention fund from fiscal years 2024 through 2029.
The letter reiterated the important role the fund plays in supporting crucial public health and prevention programs and initiatives. It also warned about the impact of such a cut on the Centers for Disease and Control and Prevention’s annual budget and appropriators’ ability to maintain funding for the departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education appropriations bill.
On Feb. 7, the bill passed the House by a vote of 211-208 and automatically adopted the manager’s amendment. It now heads to the Senate for consideration.