$120 Million for States Made Available as Part of Recovery Act Community Prevention and Wellness Initiative

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today announced the release of $120 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds for prevention and wellness programs for U.S. states and territories, building on the recent announcement of the $373 million funding opportunity for communities and tribes around the country. In all, the comprehensive Communities Putting Prevention to Work initiative will make $650 million available for public health efforts to address obesity, increase physical activity, improve nutrition, and decrease smoking.

"Today's announcement is an important step toward a healthier America," said HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. "We know that many chronic diseases are preventable, and the resources now available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will assist states and
territories in the implementation of proven prevention and wellness programs that will save lives and lower health care costs for all Americans."

The $120 million in cooperative agreements will be awarded to states and territories for three components: statewide policy and environmental change, tobacco cessation through quitlines and media campaigns, and special initiatives to create health-promoting policies and environments. For the first two components, dollar amounts awarded to each state and territory will be based on population size and number of smokers. For the third component, states will apply for special funds through a competitive process based on the potential health impact of
the proposed activities. States and territories will have two years to complete their work. They will coordinate their efforts with other Communities Putting Prevention to Work initiatives in large cities, urban areas, small cities, rural areas, and tribal areas.

"State health departments are the backbone of the public health system and are uniquely positioned to support and leverage local efforts for chronic disease prevention and control," said Thomas Frieden, M.D., M.P.H., director of the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
"We expect that as a result of this nationwide project, most Americans will live in states with improved obesity-related and tobacco policies, we will make a national shift toward healthy environments, and we will increase significantly the number of people who are able to stop
smoking."

Funded projects will emphasize state-level policy and environmental changes that will help communities and schools support healthy choices. For example, states will make use of their collective purchasing power to improve the selection and availability of healthy foods in public
venues.

"Chronic diseases are the leading cause of premature death in the country, account for spiraling health care costs, and cause disability and suffering for millions of Americans," said Janet Collins, Ph.D., director of CDC's National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. "The good news is that we can greatly reduce the toll of chronic disease by reducing just four risk factors -- tobacco use, physical inactivity, poor nutrition, and obesity. With these new funds, states and territories will work to improve the environments where their residents live, work, learn, and play so that healthy choices become the easy choice."

States and territories interested in applying for cooperative agreements can find more information at www.grants.gov. The application deadline is Nov. 24, 2009. Deadlines for additional projects that are part of the Communities Putting Prevention to Work initiative will be announced soon.

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Employers Support Non-Payment for Hospital-Acquired Infections

/PRNewswire/ -- The non-profit Midwest Business Group on Health (MBGH) released the results of a survey of employers and health care industry stakeholders on their knowledge and intentions to improve the safety and quality of health care by no longer paying for "never events" - serious and costly preventable hospital errors and hospital-acquired infections. The findings were presented at a meeting of key health care industry stakeholders including public and private employers, hospitals, health plans, doctors, consumer organizations and government hosted by MBGH in Chicago last week.

"There are currently several separate efforts taking place in our community aimed at reducing hospital-acquired conditions," said Larry Boress, president and CEO of the MBGH. "We invited key stakeholders to come together for an in depth discussion on "never events" in the hopes that we can bring continuity to these efforts and make faster progress toward improving the safety and quality of health care for everyone."

Survey findings
-- More than 60 percent of employers believed they should pay for
conditions that arose after the covered patient was admitted to a
hospital, if the facility was not at fault.
-- However, once employers became aware that Medicare had identified
conditions which should never happen to a patient and will not pay for
services related to such situations, close to 80 percent of health
care purchasers agreed that their health plans should adopt the same
payment policies as Medicare related to those conditions.
-- Nearly 100 percent of employer respondents indicated hospitals should
refrain from billing patients for services not paid for by their
benefits for events that experts say should not happen in a hospital.
-- Sixty-eight percent of employers agreed that MBGH should bring
together plans, hospitals, employers, consumer and government agencies
to define and address as a community what conditions hospitals should
focus on from the "never events" and Medicare hospital-acquired
conditions lists.


MBGH is a Regional Roll-Out Leader for The Leapfrog Group and is actively involved in hospital performance and public reporting efforts in Chicago, including the Leapfrog Hospital Survey. A section of this survey addresses 28 serious preventable errors or "never events" as set forth by the National Quality Forum (NQF). Currently, less than 47 percent of hospitals in Illinois participating in the Leapfrog Hospital Survey have agreed to meet the Leapfrog "never events" policy. Efforts are also being looked at by national groups to consider payment policies that refrain from paying for such events in physicians' offices.

"Most small- and mid-size employers are unaware of the impact of "never events" to their growing costs for health care," said Joseph Balasa, chief operating officer for the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce. "We are looking to the large employers, hospitals and health plans to make progress in solving this problem so the entire community can benefit from improved quality and safety of health care."

MBGH's survey and the meeting were supported by sanofi-aventis. The survey was submitted electronically, with more than 50 employers and other health care stakeholders responding. More than 160 people participated in the meeting.

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