Advocacy - Comment Letter
Dear Chair Baldwin, Ranking Member Capito, Chair Aderholt, and Ranking Member DeLauro:
Thank you for your support for our nation’s public health workforce and data systems in recent years. As you address ongoing public health needs, the undersigned organizations urge you and your colleagues to pass a Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies (LHHS) appropriations bill for Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 that includes funding to modernize and sustain our public health data infrastructure. The undersigned organizations respectfully request at least $340 million annually for Public Health Data Modernization at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
CDC’s Public Health Data Modernization is a long-term commitment to building and maintaining world- class data systems and workforce that meet the nation’s ongoing need to safeguard health. Public health data is not only needed during an emergency response; it is necessary for people and communities to thrive by rapidly identifying, tracking, and responding to daily public health threats of all types—acute, chronic, and emerging. Public Health Data Modernization plays a critical role to ensure public health receives data from the health care system that is essential to the disease detection and outbreak response efforts that keep communities safe.
As technology evolves and becomes more central to supporting and maintaining our health, our public health data systems will continue to need updates, software patches, security vulnerability protection, and upgrades, and the staff supporting these critical systems will need ongoing training. Public health workers and agencies are essential for protecting and improving the health of communities, but they cannot do their work without adequate funding.
Providing sustained yearly funding for public health data is a key investment for the continuous improvement of our public health infrastructure, which we estimate will cost $7.8 billion over five years at the state, Tribal, local, and territorial (STLT) levels with additional funding needed to support data efforts at the CDC. By supporting these efforts Congress will directly impact every jurisdiction's ability to keep their communities safe. So far, Congress has provided an initial down payment of approximately $1 billion for Public Health Data Modernization through annual and supplemental appropriations—which has been critical to catalyzing the work, but consistent annual funding is necessary to maintain improvements, make continued upgrades as technology advances, and support the expert public health workforce. Lack of consistent funding will halt progress, and force health departments to move backwards abandoning projects before completion.
Funding for data modernization will also make possible the work of the CDC’s Center for Forecasting and Outbreak Analytics (CFA). An additional $100 million appropriation for CFA in FY25 will fund the Center to facilitate the use of data, modeling, and analytics established by Public Health Data Modernization to improve pandemic preparedness and response. CFA is already transforming our disease modeling capabilities with the initial funds received using data and processes established by Public Health Data Modernization. CDC is using the Response Ready Enterprise Data Integration platform (RREDI) to integrate multiple data streams to provide a full picture that can be used to guide the public health response. Public Health Data Modernization, CFA, and RREDI are each necessary components of the CDC’s data strategy, and each must be funded separately and robustly to help communities stay safe and thrive. Base funding for data modernization must be retained and grow with still additional funds added for CFA and RREDI.
We are grateful for the subcommittee’s bipartisan support of public health data modernization so people and communities can know about health threats in their own back yards. Continuous investment in these crucial activities is essential to ensure the strength and resilience of the nationwide public health data system. As you work to finalize the FY25 LHHS bill, we respectfully request at least $340 million for CDC’s Public Health Data Modernization. Thank you for your leadership and for considering our recommendation. If you have questions or would like further information, please contact Meg Riley at mriley@dc-crd.com.
Sincerely,
AcademyHealth
Aledade, a Public Benefit Corporation Alliance for Nursing Informatics
American Academy of Family Physicians
American Academy of Pediatrics
American Association for Dental, Oral, and Craniofacial Research
American Association on Health and Disability
American Brain Coalition
American Clinical Laboratory Association
American College of Clinical Pharmacy
American College of Preventive Medicine
American Epilepsy Society
American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA)
American Heart Association
American Lung Association
American Medical Association
American Mosquito Control Association
American Psychological Association
American Public Health Association
American Society for Microbiology
American Society for Nutrition
American Society of Hematology
American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
American Statistical Association
Anastasia Mosquito Control District
Association of Public Health Laboratories
Association for Diagnostics and Laboratory Medicine
Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology
Association of American Medical Colleges
Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs
Association of periOperative Registered Nurses
Association of Population Centers
Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health
Association of State and Territorial Health Officials
Association of State Public Health Nutritionists
Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses
Big Cities Health Coalition
Black Women's Health Imperative Care Analytics Group, LLC
Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, University of Minnesota
Civitas Networks for Health
Columbia University School of Nursing
Connected Health Initiative
Council of Professional Associations on Federal Statistics
Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists
CURE Epilepsy cureCADASIL
Data Foundation
Dravet Syndrome Foundation
eHealth Exchange
Entomological Society of America
Epilepsies Action Network (EAN)
Epilepsy Alliance America
Epilepsy Foundation
Gerontological Society of America
Health Gorilla
Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS)
HIMSS Electronic Health Record Association
HIV Medicine Association
HLN Consulting, LLC
Hope for HIE
Infectious Diseases Society of America
International Safety Equipment Association
Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research
ISF, Inc.
Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security
Kahuina Consulting, LLC
Lakeshore Foundation
Marked by COVID
Mosquito and Vector Control Association of California Naphsis
NASTAD
National Association of County and City Health Officials
National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners
National Association of Vector-Borne Disease Control Officials
National Environmental Health Association
National Foundation for Infectious Diseases
National League for Nursing
National MS Society
National Network of Public Health Institutes
National Rural Health Association
National Safety Council
New York State Public Health Association
North Carolina Mosquito and Vector Control Association
Northeast Regional Center for Excellence in Vector-Borne Diseases
Omaha System
Population Association of America
Prevent Blindness
Public Health Accreditation Board
Public Health Institute
Resolve to Save Lives
Rockies and High Plains Vector Borne Diseases Training and Evaluation Center
Ruvos
Safe States Alliance
SAP America
Seattle Indian Health Board
Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America
Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine
Society for Public Health Education
Spina Bifida Association
SYNGAP1 Foundation
The American College of Preventive Medicine
The Leapfrog Group
The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research
The Pew Charitable Trusts
The Task Force for Global Health
TIIKO, LLC (Translating Information into Knowledge Objects)
Trinity Health
Trust for America's Health
TSC Alliance
US Biologic, Inc.