Notice of Intent To Award Affordable Care Act (ACA) Funding, EH11-1103

Notice of Intent to award Affordable Care Act (ACA) funding to seventeen states and local health departments to develop and implement tracking networks within their funded jurisdictions that are part of the National Tracking Network. These awards were proposed in the grantees' Fiscal Year (FY) 2011 Competing Continuation applications under funding opportunity EH11-1103, “National Environmental Public Health Tracking Program-Network Implementation.”

AGENCY:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

This notice provides public announcement of CDC's intent to award Affordable Care Act (ACA) appropriations to the following 17 grantees: California, Connecticut, Florida, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York City, New York State, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Utah, Washington, and Wisconsin to develop and implement their Tracking Networks. These activities are proposed by the above-mentioned grantees in their FY 2011 applications submitted under funding opportunity EH11-1103, “National Environmental Public Health Tracking Program-Network Implementation (EPHT),” Catalogue of Federal Domestic Assistance Number (CFDA): 93.070.

Approximately $16,500,000 in ACA funding will be awarded to the grantees for network expansion and enhancement. Funding is appropriated under the Affordable Care Act (Pub. L. 111-148), Section 4002 [42 U.S.C. 300u-11]; (Prevention and Public Health Fund).

Accordingly, CDC adds the following information to the previously published funding opportunity announcement of EH11-1103:

Authority: Section 317(k)(2) of the Public Health Service Act, [42 U.S.C. Section 247b(k)(2)], as amended, and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), Section 4002 [42 U.S.C. 300u-11].

—CFDA #: 93.538 Affordable Care Act—National Environmental Public Health Tracking Program-Network Implementation

Award Information

Type of Award: New Competing Continuation Cooperative Agreement.

Approximate Total Current Fiscal Year ACA Funding: $16,500,000.

Anticipated Number of Awards: 17.

Fiscal Year Funds: 2011.

Anticipated Award Date: August 1, 2011.

Application Selection Process

Funding will be awarded to applicants based on results from the objective review panel ranking recommendation.

Funding Authority

CDC will add the ACA Authority to that which is reflected in the published Funding Opportunity CDC-RFA-EH11-1103. The revised funding authority language will read:

—This program is authorized under Section 317(k)(2) of the Public Health Service Act, [42 U.S.C. 247b], as amended, and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), Section 4002 [42 U.S.C. 300u-11].

DATES:

The effective date for this action is the date of publication of this Notice and remains in effect until the expiration of the project period of the ACA funded applications.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Elmira Benson, Acting Deputy Director, Procurement and Grants Office, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2920 Brandywine Road, Atlanta, GA 30341, telephone (770) 488-2802, e-mail Elmira.Benson@cdc.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

On March 23, 2010, the President signed into law the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Public Law 111-148. The ACA is designed to improve and expand the scope of health care coverage for Americans. Cost savings through disease prevention is an important element of this legislation and the ACA has established a Prevention and Public Health Fund (PPHF) for this purpose. Specifically, the legislation states in Section 4002 that the PPHF is to “provide for expanded and sustained national investment in prevention and public health programs to improve health and help restrain the rate of growth in private and public sector health care costs.” The ACA and the Prevention and Public Health Fund make improving public health a priority with investments to improve public health.

The PPHF states that the Secretary shall transfer amounts in the Fund to accounts within the Department of Health and Human Services to increase funding, over the fiscal year 2008 level, for programs authorized by the Public Health Service Act, for prevention, wellness and public health activities including prevention research and health screenings, such as the Community Transformation Grant Program, the Education and Outreach Campaign for Preventative Benefits, and Immunization Programs.

The ACA legislation affords an important opportunity to advance public health across the lifespan and to improve public health by supporting the Tracking Network. This network builds on ongoing efforts within the public health and environmental sectors to improve health tracking, hazard monitoring and response capacity. Therefore, increasing funding available to applicants under this FOA using the PPHF will allow them to expand and sustain their existing tracking networks, utilize tracking data available on networks for potential public health assessments which is consistent with the purpose of the PPHF, as stated above, and to provide for an expanded and sustained national investment in prevention and public health programs. Further, the Secretary allocated funds to CDC, pursuant to the PPHF, for the types of activities this FOA is designed to carry out.