There is a groundswell of activity in local communities to support healthier lifestyles and help people make long-lasting and sustainable changes that can reduce their risk for chronic diseases. A number of provisions in the health reform law are aimed directly at improving population health by addressing conditions where Americans live, learn, work, and play. Public health agencies across the nation are involved in promoting healthy life styles in their communities and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently announced the availability of over $100 million to fund up to 75 grants aimed at creating healthy environments and promoting healthy lifestyles.

The panel addresses such questions as: How can prevention and public health be leveraged to improve health and reduce health care costs, particularly within Medicare, Medicaid, and CHIP? How does the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) relate to public health and prevention activities? How are the resources in the $15 billion Public Health and Prevention Fund, set up under the ACA, being deployed? How might budget cuts affect public health programs and population health?

 Full Video

Speakers for this session:

The panel is comoderated by Ed Howard of the Alliance for Health Reform and James Marks of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Ed Howard
Welcome
James Marks – Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Speakers include:

• Jeff Levi, Trust for America’s Health
• Steven Woolf, Virginia Commonwealth University
• Representatives from two communities engaged in innovative public health programs – Christine Ferguson, Dennis Worsham