Under the version of the American Health Care Act recently passed by the House, the CDC and other federal agencies would lose nearly $1 billion in grants, according to STAT.
Here are seven things to know.
1. The grants are appropriated from the Prevention and Public Health Fund, which was established under the ACA to improve healthcare quality and public health.
2. Under the ACA, the PPHF is authorized to deliver $900 million in funds to the CDC, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and the Administration for Community Living in 2017 and 2018. The funding will then vary over the next five years before increasing to $2 billion in 2025.
3. Of the $932 million provided to the three agencies in 2016, $891 million went the CDC, which accounted of one-eighth of the agency's total budget, according to STAT.
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4. The $891 million portioned out to the CDC last year included $324 million for immunization programs, $160 million for preventative health services and $126 million for programs working to spread awareness regarding the health risks associated with tobacco use.
5. The AHCA, which in its current form would eliminate the PPHF, will now receive consideration in the Senate, where it will likely undergo substantial revisions if it is to be approved by the legislative body.
6. Republican Representative Tom Cole from Oklahoma, who chairs a subcommittee that oversees health spending, characterized the proposed dissolution of the PPHF as an "ancillary effect" of the AHCA, which can be addressed in the future, according to STAT.
7. "Let's just see where we end up... I'm not going to worry about every part of this bill — I have to actually represent the people in my district who are in this [ACA] exchange with a 69-percent rate increase," said Mr. Cole, according to STAT. "CDC and NIH [National Institutes of Health] have done exceptionally well under Republican stewardship, so I would just take a deep breath and relax."
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