Prevent the Senate From Gutting Prevention

Wonder how much the senator took from the tobacco lobby.

Amplify’d from www.huffingtonpost.com

With many Americans struggling in a shaky economy, Congress is understandably working to address the concerns of small businesses as the new health reform law is implemented.

But efforts to relieve small business of new paperwork requirements in the law must not jeopardize one of its most critical provisions — a fund to prevent serious and costly diseases.

This shortsighted tradeoff would continue a nonsensical system in which we spend billions treating debilitating diseases that we know how to prevent, while shortchanging the proven services that prevent these illnesses in the first place. It would chip away one cornerstone of a new health care system that is intended to be less costly, more rational and lead us toward a healthier society.

Sen. Mike Johanns of Nebraska wants to repeal a part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act — the health reform law — that requires businesses to report certain transactions to the IRS in order to improve tax collection. To help make up for the revenue that would be lost, the Johanns Amendment would effectively eliminate the Prevention and Public Health Fund. This would gut the program before it has a chance to work. Read more at www.huffingtonpost.com

 

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