Richard Hamburg
Deputy Director
Trust for America’s Health

ACTION ALERT

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Wellness and Prevention
Health Reform Digest

Today’s News (9/6/11)

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has announced the availability of over $50 million for suicide prevention programs through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Of that amount, $1.44 million was awarded to four grantees (a total of $5.76 million) from the Prevention and Public Health Fund. http://www.samhsa.gov/newsroom/advisories/1108313247.aspx

Politico reports that the deficit reduction “supercommittee” is hard at work to find an additional $1.2 trillion in savings. It reports that, “It is clear that at least a portion of those cuts will come from the federal government’s health care side of the ledger, meaning Medicare and Medicaid. Indeed, certain components of those programs are ripe for savings.” In the article, included on a top ten list of items under discussion is “repeal {of} some of the prevention funds.” This provides a nice segue to our next Prevention and Public Health Fund Strategy meeting, which has been scheduled for Friday, September 16th, 2:00 – 3:30 p.m. at the American Public Health Association, 800 I Street, NW. Lots to talk about. If you plan on attending, please RSVP to Jackie Britz at jbritz@tfah.org.

The National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) has released its 2010 National Profile of Local Health Departments (Profile) report. The study provides a comprehensive picture of local health departments (LHD) in the United States. “Topics covered include LHD finances, workforce, services and activities, emergency preparedness, and other local public health infrastructure and practice topics.” For more information – www.naccho.org/2010profile.

Here’s a copy of the final sign-on letter from the Coalition on Health Funding and Committee for Education Funding urging appropriators to provide a 302(b) allocation for Labor/HHS and Education programs that protects them against further cuts. Well over 500 organizations signed on, “urging recognition of health, education, job training, children’s and social services programs as critical national priorities.” http://healthyamericans.org/assets/files/CHF CEF Approps FY2012.pdf.

Last week, President Obama announced that his Administration would further delay the release of a long-overdue Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS). For a copy of the President’s statement – http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/09/02/statement-president-ozone-national-ambient-air-quality-standards. In a statement from Trust for America’s Health, Dr. Jeff Levi stated, “Today’s decision to halt work on a revised standard is completely at odds with the statement EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson made last year when she announced that EPA would reconsider the standard – ‘Using the best science to strengthen these standards is a long overdue action that will help millions of Americans breathe easier and live healthier… Every day we continue to delay this standard is another day we put Americans’ health and lives at risk.”

The appropriations process lives, for now! The House Labor, HHS, Education and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee markup for FY 2012 is on for this Friday, September 9th at 9:30 a.m. in 2358B Rayburn House Office Building.

The National Association of State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Directors’ (NASADAD) Research and Program Applications Department has released a report “summarizing the responses from 48 States and two territories regarding State substance abuse agency (SSA) involvement with Driving Under the Influence (DUI)/Driving While Intoxicated (DWI) offenders.” The report, developed with support from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), is available at http://nasadad.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/FINAL-DUI-Report-9-1-2011.pdf.  

Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Congressional briefing, highlighting their recent report, F as in Fat: How Obesity Threatens America is this Thursday, September 8th, 10:00 – 11:00 a.m., B339 Rayburn House Office Building. If you are interested in attending, please RSVP Jackie Britz at jbritz@tfah.org.

Opportunities/Deadlines

{the Opportunities/Deadlines categories are live links which you can click on for further information}

Sign On Documents and Opportunities for Input

• The Coalition of National Health Education Organizations (CNHEO) is collecting stories on the impact of proposed budget cuts on public health programs (deadline September 19th)
• Campaign for Public Health Foundation is collecting nominations for its second annual Unsung Heroes of Public Health Awards (deadline September 12th)
• CommonHealth ACTION’s 2011 Aging in America Survey (deadline September 9th)
• CSPI sign-on letter on the interim final rule on school food service revenue for paid meals and competitive foods (deadline September 8th)

Regulatory Comments

• Proposed HHS rule for the Establishment of Exchanges and Qualified Health Plans (deadline September 28th)

Funding Opportunities

• None current.

Upcoming Events

Place Matters National Conference
Sponsored by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies
Wednesday, September 7th, 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. (reception 5:30 – 7:00 p.m.)
Washington Court Hotel
To register: http://www.commonhealthaction.org/pmnc2011/register_intro.asp

F as in Fat 2011 – How Obesity Threatens America’s Future
Sponsored by Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Thursday, September 8th, 10:00 – 11:00 a.m.
B339 Rayburn House Office Building
To register: Please contact Jackie Britz at jbritz@tfah.org

IOM Surveillance Report 101 {new}
Sponsored by the National Forum for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention
Webinar
Wednesday, September 14th, 2:00 – 3:00 p.m. (EDT)
To register: https://danyainternational.webex.com/mw0306ld/mywebex/default.do?nomenu=true&siteurl=danyainternational&service=6&rnd=0.9743304837047453&main_url=https%3A%2F%2Fdanyainternational.webex.com%2Fec0605ld%2Feventcenter%2Fevent%2FeventAction.do%3FtheAction%3Ddetail%26confViewID%3D270034088%26siteurl%3Ddanyainternational%26%26%26

11th Annual Blaze Sports Intl. Conference on Paralympic Sport and Physical Activity
Sponsored by BlazeSports America
September 15th – 18th
Decatur Hotel and Conference Center and Agnes Scott College, Decatur, GA
https://blazesports.wufoo.com/forms/registration-form/

The 2011 Health Equity Summit, The Affordable Care Act and Beyond: Achieving Health Equity
Saturday, September 17, 2011 from 8:30 am – 4:30 pm
Oakland Asian Cultural Center (389 9th Street #290, Oakland, CA 94607).
To register: healthequitysummit2011.eventbrite.com

Joint Use Agreements: CPPW Regional Policy Roundtable
Sponsored by National Recreation and Park Association
September 20th, 8:30a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
The St. Anthony Riverwalk-Wyndham Hotel – 300 East Travis Street, San Antonio, TX 78205
For more information: http://www.nrpa.org/joint-use-agreements-regional-policy-roundtable/

2011 Viral Hepatitis Summit Series
Sponsored by Hepatitis Foundation International
Omaha, September 20th
For more information, call 1-800-891-0707 or visit www.HepatitisFoundation.org

National Food Policy Conference
October 3rd and 4th
Capital Hilton, Washington, DC
Sponsored by Consumer Federation of America
To register: https://www.signup4.net/public/ap.aspx?EID=NATI379E&OID=130

85th Annual American School Health Conference – Limitless Possibilities
October 12th – 15th
Galt House – Louisville, Kentucky
To register: http://www.regonline.com/builder/site/Default.aspx?EventID=972973

Food Day
Sponsored by Center for Science in the Public Interest
Monday, October 24th
To help organize events in your community, click on the following: http://www.foodday.org/participate/.

SOPHE 62nd Annual Meeting – Leveraging the Power of Health Education: Changing Systems
October 27-29, 2011
Renaissance Arlington Capital View Hotel – Arlington, VA
http://precis2.preciscentral.com/Link.aspx?ID=38809A11AAABADAA

Building a Healthier Future Summit {new}
Sponsored by The Partnership for a Healthier America and Let’s Move initiative
November 29-30, 2011
Omni Shoreham Hotel
To register: www.ahealthieramerica.org/summit

9th Annual Promotoras and Community Health Workers Conference {new}
Sponsored by Visión y Compromiso
December 2nd and 3rd, 2011
Los Angeles Airport Marriott
To more information, and to register: isalia.zumaya.vision@gmail.com (www.visionycompromiso.org)

Promising Practices to Eliminate Tobacco-Related Disparities: The Power of Communities
Sponsored by the Break Free Alliance
April 17-18, 2012 – New Orleans, LA
To Register: http://healthedcouncil.org/promisingpractices_registration.html

Trust for America’s Health · 1730 M Street, NW · Suite 900 · Washington, DC 20036 · healthyamericans.org

Tags: Health Reform, Richard Hamburg

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 6th, 2011 at 2:39 pm and is filed under Health Reform.