Supercommittee Dems' proposed cuts to health law fund draw fire

Public health advocates immediately pushed back Thursday after a Democratic proposal to slash the healthcare law's Prevention and Public Health Fund became public.

Supercommittee Democrats have proposed cutting the trust fund by $8 billion, more than half the $15 billion set aside for the fund in its first 10 years. Republicans call the program a "slush fund" because it gives the Secretary of Health and Human Services broad latitude to grant awards.

The Trust for America's Health announced Thursday after the proposed cuts were made public that it has so far collected signatures from 704 public health groups on a letter defending the fund. 

"We were disappointed that the President's deficit reduction plan included cuts to the Prevention Fund, which would result in a 25 percent reduction in this investment by FY 2015, severely impacting our efforts to curb chronic disease," reads the letter to the deficit-cutting supercommittee. "We urge you to maintain our investment in the Fund and produce a final deficit reduction plan that recognizes the importance of prevention."

Separately, Senate HELP Committee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), one of the fund's strongest champions, also raised concerns.

"Senator Harkin's position in this area is well-known," a Harkin spokeswoman said, "And he is a strong supporter of the prevention fund."

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