I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3468 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, the Public Health Service 
Act, and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to 
promote the use of prevention and wellness programs. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 31, 2009 
Mr. CASTLE (for himself, Mr. GERLACH, and Mr. LOBIONDO) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Com-
merce, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means and Edu-
cation and Labor, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 
Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 
the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, the Public 
Health Service Act, and the Employee Retirement In-
come Security Act of 1974 to promote the use of preven-
tion and wellness programs. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Promoting Health and 
Preventing Chronic Disease through Prevention and 
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Wellness Programs for Employees, Communities, and In-
dividuals Act of 2009’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) Keeping people healthy and preventing dis-
ease must be an important part of improving our 
federal health system. 
(2) More than 133 million Americans, which ac-
counts for 45 percent of the U.S. population, have 
at least one chronic condition. 
(3) With the growth in obesity, especially 
among younger Americans, the diagnosis of child-
hood chronic diseases has almost quadrupled over 
the past four decades and is expected to continue to 
rise. 
(4) Chronic diseases are the leading causes of 
preventable death and disability in the United 
States, accounting for 7 out of every 10 deaths and 
killing more than 1,700,000 people in the United 
States every year. 
(5) Two-thirds of the increase in health care 
spending is due to increased prevalence of treated 
chronic disease. 
(6) Seventy-five percent of the nation’s aggre-
gate health care spending is on treating patients 
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with chronic disease, and the vast majority of these 
diseases are preventable. Unfortunately, less than 
one percent of total health care spending goes to-
ward prevention. 
(7) According to a recent study, treatment of 
the seven most common chronic diseases, coupled 
with productivity losses, cost the U.S. economy more 
than $1 trillion dollars annually. It has been esti-
mated that modest reductions in unhealthy behaviors 
could prevent or delay 40 million cases of chronic ill-
ness per year. 
(8) Chronic diseases are burdensome to Amer-
ican businesses. Not only does a sicker American 
workforce have higher health care costs, but it is 
also less productive. Chronic illnesses lead to absen-
teeism and decreased effectiveness while at work due 
to illness. 
(9) Prevention not only saves lives, it is highly 
cost-effective. One study concluded that an invest-
ment of $10 per person per year in proven commu-
nity-based programs to increase physical activity, 
improve nutrition, and prevent smoking and other 
tobacco use could save the country more than $16 
billion annually within five years. This is a return of 
$5.60 for every $1 spent. 
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