Health Reform and Public Health
Health reform has many implications for public health. Learn more by viewing or using the Power Point titled “Health Reform and Public Health” on this website: http://www.maine.gov/dhhs/boh/mills_presentations.shtml.
Maine CDC Awarded Public Health Infrastructure Grant
Maine CDC has received an award of $1.76 million per year for five years from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for improvements to Maine’s public health system.
The goal of these funds includes improving health departments’ performance management capacity and the ability to meet national public health standards to make programs and people in the public health system more efficient and effective. In Maine, these funds will: complete an electronic death certificate system; make necessary updates to an electronic birth certificate system; build systems to allow health care providers to more easily transfer information on immunizations to Maine CDC; apply public health performance management principles in Maine CDC and its work; improve capacity for health planning at the state and district level; and make public health data more accessible.
The grant is funded by the Affordable Care Act of 2010 and will be administered by US CDC.
For more information: http://www.maine.gov/tools/whatsnew/index.php?topic=DHS+Press+Releases&id=133134&v=article
Other Health Reform Updates
HealthCare.gov has posted updated information (http://www.healthcare.gov/foryou/youngadults/soon/index.html) for young adults about improvements to health care that are coming soon.
The Kaiser Family Foundation has launched an online resource on the health reform law, which provides explanations of the basics of the law, in-depth analysis of policy issues in implementation, and quick and easy access to relevant data, studies and developments. The Health Reform Source is accessible at: http://healthreform.kff.org
For more information about Health Reform in Maine, visit the Governor’s Office of Health Policy and Finance’s web site: http://www.maine.gov/healthreform/
