II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1944 

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 

JUNE 24, 2019 

Mr. BLUMENTHAL (for himself, Mr. BROWN, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. 

CASEY, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Ms. SMITH, and Mr. BOOKER) 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 Restoration 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 23:14 Jun 27, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1944.IS S1944

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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 local and State health de9 partments to prevent and control the spread of in10 fectious disease, and prevent injuries and the devel11 opment 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. 

20 (4) Such prevention efforts have shown to be 

21 effective. Funding increases for community-based 

22 public health programs reduce infant deaths and 

23 preventable deaths caused by cancer, diabetes, and 

24 cardiovascular disease. Every dollar spent on preven25 tion saves nearly $6 in health spending and every 


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1 dollar spent on childhood vaccines saves $16.50 in 

2 future health care costs. 

3 (5) Investments in prevention reduce the cost of 

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

5 investments in community-based disease prevention 

6 is estimated to save $16,500,000,000 annually with7 in 5 years. 

8 (6) Cuts to the Prevention and Public Health 

9 Fund and other public health prevention efforts un10 dermine efforts to create an affordable and acces11 sible health care system, and a better quality life for 

12 Americans. 

13 (7) Restoring Prevention and Public Health 

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

15 the Fund to invest in more innovative, evidence16 based public health programs and maintain and ex17 pand investments in programs with demonstrated 

18 success. 

19 SEC. 3. PREVENTION AND PUBLIC HEALTH FUND. 

20 Section 4002(b) of the Patient Protection and Af21 fordable Care Act (42 U.S.C. 300u–11(b)) is amended— 

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

23 ‘‘and’’; and 

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

25 inserting the following: 


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1 ‘‘(5) for fiscal year 2020 and each fiscal year 

2 thereafter, $2,000,000,000.’’. 

Æ 


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