ACA Now

Implementation Status

2013

It does not appear that the CDC has conducted activities explicitly pursuant to this provision, despite having dedicated funds for such efforts in past budget proposals (e.g. see here).

2014

On July 1, 2014, AHRQ released a report on the safety of commonly used vaccines finding strong evidence that serious adverse events are rare.

On July 9, 2014, the CDC allocated $40 million for organizations, state and local government agencies, non-profits, educational institutions and other working to build capacity to strengthen public health immunization infrastructure and performance. Applications are due August 21, 2014.

On July 10, 2014, the USPSTF released a compendium of recommendations intended to assist primary care providers in their clinical decisions regarding preventive services.

On July 14, 2014, the National Prevention, Health Promotion, and Public Health Council released its first annual National Prevention Strategy report focused on the work of 20 Federal departments and agencies that are working to improve the health of Americans at every stage of life.

July 15, 2014, under a new, three-year initiative known as “Partnerships for Care: Health Departments and Health Centers Collaborating to Improve HIV Health Outcomes,” HRSA announced an $11M grant opportunity that aims to drive integrated HIV/AIDS care through community health center collaboration with public health departments in NY, MA, FL and MD. Eligible health centers must apply by 5pm ET on August 12, 2014.

On July 17, 2014, the CDC announced it was conducting an information collection on newly-proposed project titled, “Monitoring and Reporting System for the Division of Community Health’s Cooperative Agreement Programs National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (NCCDPHP).” Specifically, the CDC has three new cooperating agreement programs to address chronic diseases and risk factors for chronic diseases. Comments are due within 60 days of publication, putting the deadline for comments on or around September 17, 2014.

On Nov. 5, the CDC released data showing that that in 2012, about eight million women ages 21 to 65 years have not been screened for cervical cancer in the past five years. Uninsured women were more likely to have gone without screening. The agency stressed that under the ACA preventive services like cervical cancer screenings should be covered without additional cost in an effort to increase screening.

On Nov. 25, SAMHSA released a report finding that only about 1 in 4 mental health treatment facilities offer services to quit smoking. The study found that the provision of smoking cessation services varied considerably by the facility treatment setting. For example, 57.1 percent of inpatient only programs provided smoking cessation services, compared to only 17.0 percent of outpatient only programs. People with mental illness have higher rates of tobacco use and other risk factors that at increased risk for early mortality. The goal of the Primary and Behavioral Health Care Integration program is to improve the physical health status of adults with serious mental illnesses who have or are at risk for co-occurring primary care conditions and chronic diseases.

On Nov. 26, the CDC released a report finding that the cigarette smoking rate among adults in the U.S. dropped from 20.9 percent in 2005 to 17.8 percent in 2013.