Health Care Reform (the Affordable Care Act) & its Implementation

Report on the 2011 Midyear Meeting (June 23-25, 2011, in Chicago)

APHA's first Mid-Year Meeting focused on health care reform that is being implemented under the Affordable Care Act. For more information on the Meeting’s program and the sessions, please visit: http://www.apha.org/Midyear/Schedule/

 The Midyear Meeting’s theme of public health’s role in implementing health care reform was presented in topics that ranged from how to communicate on public health to exploring the partnerships that public health may pursue. One major “takeaway” was the buzz about the proposed integration of primary care & public health. This federally focused integration is directed toward services, not agencies, so that the emphasis is on how medical care organizations and public health agencies can collaborate programs to realize better health outcomes. As the concluding overview, found at http://www.apha.org/about/news/pressreleases/2011/midyear+meeting+concludes.htm states, public health agency budgets and staffing have been greatly reduced in past years and yet, public health should play a critical role in implementing health care reform.

How does environmental public health integrate into the new framework of health care reform with its expanded primary health care provision? Environmental health  or EH, a core public health area, provides necessary services via local, state and federal public heath agencies. Connections between individual medical care treatment and EH can now be expanded to promote prevention and early mitigation.  For example, foodborne illness can and is prevented by EH programs, yet occurring cases often go undetected. Closer connections among medical care and EH professionals can serve to eliminate or reduce such incidences. The prevention of exposures to toxic substances and/or the mitigation of exposure effects are other areas that warrant close communication and consultation between the two sets of professionals. In addition, environmental public health professionals, in partnership with those from medical care, can craft, promote and implement critical local, state and national policies to protect the health of all.