Trust for America's Health Statement on the Supreme Court Ruling on the Affordable Care Act

WASHINGTON, June 28, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following is a statement from Jeff Levi, Executive Director of the Trust for America's Health (TFAH), who also serves as Chair of the Advisory Group on Prevention, Health Promotion, and Integrative and Public Health about today's Supreme Court ruling on the Affordable Care Act:

"Trust for America's Health is extremely pleased by today's ruling by the Supreme Court.

In addition to ensuring health care coverage for millions of additional Americans and improved quality measures, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) also includes historic investments in prevention.  Today's decision means these aspects of the law will continue to be implemented and Americans around the country will benefit. 

Prevention is the most common-sense way to improve health while reducing health care costs and increasing productivity.  By creating and providing the resources for evidence-based, locally-decided prevention programs around the country, the ACA has put the nation on a path that will transform the nation's sick care system into a true health care system.  Some of the key prevention provisions of the ACA include:

• Coverage of Preventive Health Services: as of January 1, 2011, all 'new' (nongrandfathered) private insurance plans must cover a range of preventive services without any cost-sharing.
• The Prevention and Public Health Fund: an historic investment that focuses on keeping soaring health care costs under control, while, at the same time, helping those who want to be healthy get or stay healthy. The Fund includes the Community Transformation Grants (CTGs), a groundbreaking approach to health in the United States that provides resources to communities across the country to help make the healthy choice the easy choice.
• The National Prevention, Health Promotion, and Public Health Council, comprised of representatives from 17 federal agencies which developed the National Prevention Strategy, which seeks to "increase the number of Americans who are healthy at every stage of life."

Now we can get onto the business of implementing all of the provisions of the ACA post haste and improving the health of the country."

(Logo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100204/TFAHLOGO )

Trust for America's Health is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to saving lives by protecting the health of every community and working to make disease prevention a national priority. www.healthyamericans.org

SOURCE Trust for America's Health