A Brief History of the Prevention and Public Health Fund: Implications for Public Health Advocates.

Abstract

The nation's first broad-based, mandatory investment in public health and prevention, the Prevention and Public Health Fund (the Fund), has had a brief and controversial history. Advocates for the Fund have had to defend it from both Democratic and Republican threats, including being used as an offset for administration priorities, and from congressional efforts to repeal and replace the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Lessons learned from efforts to sustain the Fund are instructive in addressing current and future challenges faced by advocates for public health programs and prevention policies.