II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 571 

To fully fund the Prevention and Public Health Fund and reaffirm the 

importance of prevention in the United States healthcare system. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 3, 2021 

Mr. BLUMENTHAL (for himself, Mrs. MURRAY, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. 

BROWN, Ms. SMITH, Mr. CASEY, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, and Ms. ROSEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To fully fund the Prevention and Public Health Fund and 

reaffirm the importance of prevention in the United 

States healthcare system. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Public Health Funding 

5 Prevents Pandemics Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) The Prevention and Public Health Fund 

9 (section 4002 of the Patient Protection and AffordVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:04 Apr 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S571.IS S571

kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 571 IS

1 able Care Act (42 U.S.C. 300u–11)) was designed 

2 ‘‘to provide for expanded and sustained national in3 vestment in prevention and public health programs 

4 to improve health and help restrain the rate of 

5 growth in private and public health care costs’’. 

6 (2) Funding under such section is essential to 

7 core efforts at the Department of Health and 

8 Human Services and in State, local, Tribal, and ter9 ritorial health departments to prevent and control 

10 the spread of infectious disease and prevent injuries 

11 and the development of chronic conditions. 

12 (3) Prevention and Public Health Fund dollars 

13 support evidenced-based investments in tobacco use 

14 prevention and cessation, nutrition, mental health, 

15 childhood lead poisoning prevention, elder care ini16 tiatives, and immunizations, among other prevention 

17 initiatives. Funding gives States and communities 

18 the flexibility to respond to public health threats 

19 that may be unique to their communities and bol20 sters the State, local, Tribal, and territorial response 

21 to global public health threats, including COVID–19. 

22 (4) Such prevention efforts have shown to be 

23 effective. Funding increases for community-based 

24 public health programs reduce infant deaths and 

25 preventable deaths caused by cancer, diabetes, and 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 571 IS

1 cardiovascular disease. Every dollar spent on preven2 tion saves nearly $6 in health spending and every 

3 dollar spent on childhood vaccines saves $16.50 in 

4 future health care costs. 

5 (5) Investments in prevention reduce the cost of 

6 health care in the United States. $2,900,000,000 in 

7 investments in community-based disease prevention 

8 is estimated to save $16,500,000,000 annually with9 in 5 years. 

10 (6) Cuts to the Prevention and Public Health 

11 Fund and other public health prevention efforts un12 dermine efforts to create an affordable and acces13 sible health care system, and a better quality of life 

14 for Americans. 

15 (7) Cuts to the Prevention and Public Health 

16 Fund endanger the ability of States and localities to 

17 distribute vaccines and public health information 

18 successfully. The Prevention and Public Health 

19 Fund is critical to the growth of the Centers for 

20 Disease Control and Prevention’s immunization pro21 gram under section 317 of the Public Health Service 

22 Act and to the Epidemiology and Laboratory Capac23 ity program. 

24 (8) Restoring Prevention and Public Health 

25 Fund funding to $2,000,000,000 annually will allow 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 571 IS

1 the Fund to invest in more innovative, evidence2 based public health programs and maintain and ex3 pand investments in programs with demonstrated 

4 success. 

5 (9) Restoring Prevention and Public Health 

6 Fund funding to $2,000,000,000 will give the Cen7 ters for Disease Control and Prevention and State, 

8 local, Tribal, and territorial health departments the 

9 funding that they need to invest in prevention ef10 forts that will help the United States avoid future 

11 pandemics and epidemics. 

12 SEC. 3. PREVENTION AND PUBLIC HEALTH FUND. 

13 Section 4002(b) of the Patient Protection and Af14 fordable Care Act (42 U.S.C. 300u–11(b)) is amended— 

15 (1) in paragraph (4), by adding at the end 

16 ‘‘and’’; and 

17 (2) by striking paragraphs (5) through (9) and 

18 inserting the following: 

19 ‘‘(5) for fiscal year 2022 and each fiscal year 

20 thereafter, $2,000,000,000.’’. 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS