https://goo.gl/1I2qDW
By now, it is well known that repealing the ACA could leave nearly 20 million Americans uninsured and simultaneously result in millions of job losses across the country. An associated cost that has been less discussed, but no less relevant, is what repeal could mean for the nation’s already-fragile governmental public health system. As the director of the Big Cities Health Coalition (BCHC), a membership organization of 28 governmental public health departments in the largest, most urban areas of the country, I cannot underscore the importance of these funds enough.
Without a comparable replacement, or appropriation of additional funds, at least $3 billion will be cut from state and local public health departments alone over the next five years through funds allocated by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). An additional $2 billion in federal resources would be lost to a number of other prevention-oriented activities across the entire public health enterprise. This $5 billion is essential to core public health programs that keep Americans healthy and safe every day and makes up 12 percent of CDC’s annual budget, supporting disease tracking, access to immunizations for those most in need, and preventing and addressing lead poisoning, among other priorities.