Emily Holubowich, Senior Vice President of CRD Associates and Executive Director of the Coalition for Health Funding, was quoted in the February 14, 2012, issue of the journal Nature, discussing the impact of proposed budget cuts on public health programs.
The Nature article, “Obama Shoots for Science Increase,” notes that biomedicine and public health did not fare as well as other federal science programs in President Obama’s latest budget proposal. Under the president’s plan, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) would see its funding cut funding by almost 12 percent, offset in part by funds taken from the Prevention and Public Health Fund created by the Affordable Care Act. The president also proposes to “prioritize prevention and public health” by cutting the Prevention Fund by $4 billion over the next ten years.
“Using the Fund to patch holes in the CDC’s budget is ‘troubling’, says Emily Holubowich, executive director of the Coalition for Health Funding. ‘The future of the fund is tenuous at best.’”
A few days after the article was published, the Prevention Fund was cut by $5 billion to offset the costs associated with a 10-month fix to the Medicare physician fee schedule.
Nature’s summary of the president’s budget is available here: http://www.nature.com/news/obama-shoots-for-science-increase-1.10019