In Back Upward Of Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa)

“The Affordable Care Act, the wellness attention police delineate of 2010, created a Prevention together with Public Health Fund.
The fund is an unprecedented investment inwards promoting wellness, preventing disease, together with protecting against populace wellness emergencies.
Much of this operate is done inwards partnership amongst states together with communities, which are already using Prevention Fund dollars to aid command the obesity epidemic, create exercise wellness disparities, uncovering together with chop-chop reply to wellness threats, trim back tobacco use, prepare the nation's populace wellness workforce, modernize vaccine systems, foreclose the spread of HIV/AIDS, increase populace wellness programs’ effectiveness together with efficiency, together with ameliorate access to behavioral wellness services.
…..
With this investment, the Affordable Care Act helps states together with the patch every bit a whole focus on fighting affliction together with illness before they happen.” – HHS.gov

Sounds magnificent, doesn’t it? “slush fund for jungle gyms”, because manifestly playgrounds for children are much inferior to proper pharmacotherapy for the side yesteryear side generation of fat diabetics.

But the Fund had many Democrat champions who (almost) consistently, together with selflessly, went to bat for the wellbeing of futurity generations. For example, inwards April 2012, soon afterwards shaving off 1 tertiary of the Fund’s coin to pay for the payroll taxation cutting extension package, Democrats made a stand upwards together with refused to allow others to bring together inwards the pillaging of the same Fund, this fourth dimension to pay for a educatee loan involvement reduction program. In a bright strategic move, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, surrounded yesteryear an all-female legislative chorus, called the Republican neb a "continuation of the laid on on women's health" together with suggested that educatee loan involvement reductions should live on paid yesteryear taxation of stone oil companies. This of course, had zip to exercise amongst the Presidential election together with the gender issues carefully cultivated to defeat a slew of idiotic Republican candidates taking turns at making the most medieval statements close 50% of the electorate.

In the past, all attempts to receive got coin out of the Fund somehow required Congressional approval, but inwards a recent evolution it seems that the direction that created the Fund, together with valiantly defended it over the years, tin at nowadays freely care for populace wellness every bit a truthful “slush fund”, together with quietly divert every bit much funding every bit it deems appropriate to other activities without an upwards or downward vote inwards Congress. Obviously this does non qualify every bit an “assault on women’s health” because most women, together with men, are non aware that hundreds of millions of dollars are proposed to live on diverted from populace wellness to paying “navigators” for the novel wellness insurance exchanges. And every bit the 2012 the Fund allocated about $1 billion to diverse community efforts ranging from early on childhood obesity prevention to Alzheimer’s educational activity together with support. For 2013, the Fund is planning on spending one-half that much on prevention together with populace health, patch diverting $453.8 billion to CMS to assist amongst enrollment inwards the novel wellness insurance exchanges. So out of the master copy $15 billion allocated to populace wellness together with prevention, exclusively a fraction volition larn to its intended purpose, unless of course of instruction the Republican sponsored Helping Sick Americans Now Act defunds the entire affair through 2016 to replenish the stopgap Pre-Existing Conditions Insurance Plan which ran out of coin before this year.

The populace wellness fund from its inception was only an elbow grease to brand communities where most Americans alive together with operate to a greater extent than conducive to salubrious lifestyles through a multifariousness of small-scale investments inwards infrastructure improvements, services, educational activity together with research. There is quite a scrap of wellness information technology inwards the Fund, but instead of the sexy fly-by-night EHR type of information technology that gets all the media attending together with all the coin nosotros don’t have, the Fund is supporting electronic infrastructure for immunizations, infection prevention together with surveillance, information collection together with analysis of wellness indicators for diverse purposes. The Fund was a long term suggestion together with it was never clear how businesses net income straight from its moneys, if at all, hence it came nether onslaught almost straightaway when inwards “slush fund for jungle gyms”, because manifestly playgrounds for children are much inferior to proper pharmacotherapy for the side yesteryear side generation of fat diabetics.

But the Fund had many Democrat champions who (almost) consistently, together with selflessly, went to bat for the wellbeing of futurity generations. For example, inwards April 2012, soon afterwards shaving off 1 tertiary of the Fund’s coin to pay for the payroll taxation cutting extension package, Democrats made a stand upwards together with refused to allow others to bring together inwards the pillaging of the same Fund, this fourth dimension to pay for a educatee loan involvement reduction program. In a bright strategic move, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, surrounded yesteryear an all-female legislative chorus, called the Republican neb a "continuation of the laid on on women's health" together with suggested that educatee loan involvement reductions should live on paid yesteryear taxation of stone oil companies. This of course, had zip to exercise amongst the Presidential election together with the gender issues carefully cultivated to defeat a slew of idiotic Republican candidates taking turns at making the most medieval statements close 50% of the electorate.

In the past, all attempts to receive got coin out of the Fund somehow required Congressional approval, but inwards a recent evolution it seems that the direction that created the Fund, together with valiantly defended it over the years, tin at nowadays freely care for populace wellness every bit a truthful “slush fund”, together with quietly divert every bit much funding every bit it deems appropriate to other activities without an upwards or downward vote inwards Congress. Obviously this does non qualify every bit an “assault on women’s health” because most women, together with men, are non aware that hundreds of millions of dollars are proposed to live on diverted from populace wellness to paying “navigators” for the novel wellness insurance exchanges. And every bit the Secretary of HHS, who is able to exercise what an elected Congress cannot, pointed out, the coin volition withal indirectly back upwards preventive attention because the navigators volition aid Americans to enroll inwards wellness plans that laissez passer on them preventive benefits.

Until now, most people were able to purchase wellness insurance without hiring a consultant, but it seems that the novel wellness insurance exchanges, that were meant to simplify the process, require that the authorities provides us amongst personal shoppers to expedite the transfer of taxpayer subsidies to big corporations. And since the authorities is buying us preventive care, such every bit screening for obesity together with diabetes (but non necessarily handling for either one), nosotros don’t quest to truly foreclose obesity together with diabetes yesteryear edifice sidewalks, playgrounds or gardens inwards our communities. Makes sense, doesn’t it?

It didn’t brand much feel to Senator Tom Harkin, who is non running for whatsoever to a greater extent than reelections, together with then is at nowadays costless to stand upwards for principles. In a seemingly unrelated move, Mr. Harkin chose to block the nomination of Marilyn Tavenner to caput the Centers for Medicare together with Medicaid Services (CMS), until the Obama direction is willing to negotiate its individual raiding of the Preventive together with Public Health Fund. The one-time champions of the Fund look a scrap irked yesteryear Mr. Harkin’s position, peculiarly because the nomination of Ms. Tavenner was a rare 2nd of bipartisan back upwards (most probable because she is non seen every bit an obstruction to privatizing Medicare together with Medicaid), together with similar a typical battered spouse, the Democratic Party is desperate to savour this brief 2nd of validation from its abuser.

You volition non win this one, Mr. Harkin, together with whatsoever “negotiation” on the amounts stolen from populace wellness this yr volition live on to a greater extent than than made upwards for afterwards yous retire, but sometimes making a stand upwards on behalf of the people is to a greater extent than of import than winning the battle, something this direction never understood, together with watching an elected official stand upwards for the involvement of the populace instead of individual or political party interests, may really good touching on populace wellness infinitely to a greater extent than than the moneys currently at stake.
So remain the course of instruction Mr. Harkin, together with permit Mr. Harry Reid file cloture if he must, together with permit this live on a lesson inwards integrity for futurity generations. Godspeed together with give cheers you!