AOA President's Blog

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) contains many provisions to help improve preventive care and wellness. The bill actually provides $250 million in new programs to improve public health. Here’s the breakdown:

• Community and Clinical Prevention: $126 million will support federal, state and community prevention initiatives; the integration of primary care services into publicly funded community-based behavioral health settings; obesity prevention and fitness; and tobacco cessation.

• Public Health Infrastructure: $70 million will support state, local, and tribal public health infrastructure and build state and local capacity to prevent, detect, and respond to infectious disease outbreaks.

• Research and Tracking: $31 million for data collection and analysis; to strengthen CDC’s Community Guide by supporting the Task Force on Community Preventive Services; and to improve transparency and public involvement in the Clinical Preventive Services Task Force.

• Public Health Training: $23 million to expand CDC’s public health workforce programs and public health training centers.

Learn more about these provisions and ACA on DO-Online.

Larry