Economic Stimulus: CDC Moves Forward

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 provides a substantial investment in improving health and wellness for Americans. The funds will increase the delivery of public health prevention services to more people and have a direct economic stimulus effect by creating and maintaining public health jobs and improving efficiencies through expanded health information technology.

The economic legacy of these investments in public health will extend decades beyond its short-term economic stimulus. Investments in prevention programs and the infrastructure that supports them will pay off in a more efficient and reformed health system, reduced future medical care costs and increased productivity of American workers.

Specifically, $1 billion was made available to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for a prevention and wellness fund:

• $50 million for Healthcare-Associated Infections;
• $650 million for community-based prevention and wellness programs; and
• CDC directly stands to receive $300 million by expanding the Section 317 immunization program to help ensure more under-insured children and adults receive recommended vaccines. Immunization has been shown to be cost saving—routine childhood vaccination has resulted in an annual cost savings of nearly $10 billion.

HHS also received funding for broad, health-based areas such as comparative-effectiveness research and health information technology.

CDC Partners Play an Important Role

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act's unprecedented investment in preventive care, which is one of the best ways to keep Americans healthy, represents an important ideological shift—from a reactive model focused on treatment to a proactive prevention model with the goal of eliminating health disparities and ensuring quality of life for all Americans.

As HHS and the Office of Management and Budget refine their guidance of how best to spend stimulus dollars to make an economic and health impact, CDC will refine its process for effective collaboration with partners using new and established channels to create dialogue around stimulus activities.

A Down Payment on Health Reform

The stimulus is considered a "down payment" on health reform. CDC's strategic planning will focus on reforms that positively impact health in areas including, but not limited to, the following:

• Health insurance/benefit systems.
• Clinical preventive services.
• Healthcare incentives to promote quality and patient safety.
• Strengthening the public health system to deliver evidence-based, population-level interventions that are seamlessly coordinated with the healthcare system.
• Strengthening and broadening the skills of the public health workforce.
• Strengthening communities and disseminating evidence-based community interventions to improve health and reduce health disparities.
• Promoting health through policies that positively impact health in other sectors (i.e., education, agriculture, transportation, etc.).
  
  

CDC to Remain Open and Transparent

CDC's goal is to remain open and transparent and to provide ample opportunities for partner engagement during this process. CDC is committed to maintaining an open dialogue with partners as new information about the economic stimulus package is available.

For more information about CDC's role in the economic stimulus or partner-related questions or comments, partners can contact CDC at cdcpartnerships@cdc.gov.

Stimulus Archives

• Economic Stimulus: CDC at Work