APHA Advocates

APHA lauds prevention in health reform bill

The inclusion of billions of dollars in prevention funds in the U.S. House of Representatives health reform bill is an important step in “moving our health system from one that focuses on treating the sick to one that focuses on keeping people healthy,” said APHA Executive Director Georges Benjamin, MD, FACEP, FACEP (E), in a Nov. 8 Association news release.

Released the morning after the House voted 220–215 to pass H.R. 3962, also known as the Affordable Health Care for America Act, the news release applauded the bill not only for including a $34 billion Prevention and Wellness Trust, but for addressing insurance coverage, a public option insurance program and the health disparity gap. Unfortunately, the House bill also passed with an amendment that would severely restrict women’s access to abortion services.

Introduced by Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., the amendment would prohibit people receiving federal assistance to buy health insurance from purchasing a plan that covers abortion services. The amendment would also prohibit the public option insurance plan from covering abortion services. According to a Nov. 7 letter that APHA sent to members of the House calling on them to oppose the abortion measure, the Stupak amendment “could significantly impact lower and middle-income women who are not able to afford to purchase separate supplemental coverage for abortion services.”

“We urge Congress to take another look and ensure that women have access to the full range of reproductive health services in any health reform measure enacted,” Benjamin said.

As of mid-December, the Senate had yet to vote on its version of a health reform bill, known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The Senate bill, as of December, included wording that would allow those receiving federal assistance for insurance to purchase a plan that covers abortion. However, insurers would have to ensure that only premium and co-payment dollars go toward such services. APHA adopted new policy in support of protecting abortion services during its Annual Meeting in November (see Page 27).

APHA calls for paid sick leave for workers

Paid sick leave is an important tool in the nation’s ongoing efforts against H1N1 flu as well as preparing for any infectious disease emergency, said APHA Executive Director Georges Benjamin, MD, FACP, FACEP (E), during testimony before the House Committee on Education and Labor.

At a Nov. 17 hearing, which focused on “Protecting Employees, Employers and the Public: H1N1 and Sick Leave Policies,” Benjamin said that “resiliency enables a community to withstand the ravages of a pandemic and hastens the community’s return to normal. Paid sick leave for workers is essential to building resilient communities in an infectious emergency.” Paid sick leave not only benefits sick employees, but a business’ productivity, as an infectious worker is prevented from spreading illness throughout a workplace, Benjamin said.

“We know that people with H1N1 are going into work every day,” he told members of the committee. “Companies subject to the Family and Medical Leave Act are required to offer unpaid sick leave, but most employees without a paid sick leave benefit do not have the financial security necessary to stay home from work when they or a family member are sick. This is especially problematic during the current H1N1 pandemic.”

Benjamin also noted that too few businesses have pandemic flu preparedness plans in place, adding that such plans should include employee training and education on how to prevent spreading the flu as well as policies that support nonpunitive sick leave.

“Our last line of defense against spreading infection lies with each and every one of us,” Benjamin said. “We have both an individual and collective responsibility to keep ourselves healthy and help prevent the spread of flu.”

APHA urges ban on global gag rule

U.S. foreign assistance legislation should bar future U.S. presidents from imposing restrictive reproductive health measures on some of the world’s poorest communities, APHA said in November.

In letters to Sens. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, and Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., APHA and fellow public health advocates called for fiscal year 2010 foreign assistance appropriations legislation to include a provision that would bar future presidents from re-imposing the Mexico City Policy, or what is more commonly known as the global gag rule. First imposed in the early 1980s, the rule prohibits organizations that receive U.S. assistance funds from providing abortion services and counseling, or from advocating for safe and legal abortion in their respective countries. While President Bill Clinton lifted the restriction in 1993, President George Bush reimposed it in 2001, leaving President Barack Obama to lift it again shortly after taking office. The letters, initiated by Planned Parenthood Federation of America, also called for $648.5 million in U.S. global family planning and reproductive health program funds.

“While the gag rule was in effect, it severely hampered the effectiveness of the U.S. government’s family planning program by excluding many otherwise qualified grantees and limiting the activities of others,” the letter stated. “This must end.”

To take action on behalf of public health,visit www.apha.org/advocacy/activities.