Federal Funding Cuts to Public Health Programs are Hurting Americans, Says Report

According to a report by the Coalition for Health Funding, overall federal funding for public health programs has been drastically cut over the past four years and it’s adversely affecting Americans in a direct way. Federal agencies that deal with substance abuse prevention and treatment have been affected the most.

The report, Faces of Austerity: How Budget Cuts Hurt America’s Health, released on July 15, analyzes the impact that federal public health budget cuts have on people and communities.
The National Institute of Health (NIH), which includes the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) and comprises about half the federal government’s spending on public health, has experienced a 10 percent budget cut over the past year. Funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has been slashed by 16 percent and funding for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), which includes the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) and the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) has been cut about 8 percent. 

The report highlights over 20 case studies that personalize and put a human face on the impact of these budget cuts. For example, “Heroin in Illinois: A State of Emergency,” features Allen Sandusky of the South Suburban Council on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse located in East Hazel Crest, Ill. In the study, Sandusky describes how his organization used funds from SAMHSA’s Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment block grant for prevention and treatment in the southern suburbs of Chicago. In 2013, these funds were reduced by over 10 percent. 

The report goes on to show how, at a time when “heroin use and addiction is at crisis levels nationally and in Illinois,” federal public health budget cuts have caused a 21 percent decline in funding for the South Suburban Council on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse. Such a large decline in funding in so short a period of time has led to a reduction in the organization’s staff size, reduced benefits, a decrease in the number of people receiving treatment and an almost complete elimination of ancillary services.  The study ends ominously by stating that by “the end of 2014, there is no guarantee that [the South Suburban Council on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse] will still be in operation.”

Through this report, the Coalition hopes to provide incentives in Congress to reverse the previous years’ cuts and help provide for a healthier America. 

For more information about this study, visit www.cutshurt.org.