“Community prevention focuses on improving both the physical and social environment in our nation. A nation of people living in healthy places is a nation of healthy people. Thus prevention is a fundamental component of a successful comprehensive health reform approach."

 

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     "Strengthening What Works"

       A memo prepared by Prevention Institute and PolicyLink

Reform for a Healthier Nation

New! Prevention Institute has created a Health Reform Rapid Response Media Network to keep you updated on the latest media coverage of prevention in health reform. Email Erica Valdovinos to join the Network.

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Health reform offers the opportunity to re-envision the best ways to advance health and equity in our nation.  Community prevention can significantly alleviate social and financial costs by keeping people from getting sick and injured in the first place.

This page contains tools and resources for advocates seeking to frame health reform as bigger than the health care system.

Health Reform Talking Points for Advocates

Here are some talking points which will help support your argument when writing letters to newspaper editors and op-ed columns, or pitching a story to a journalist.

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Letters to the Editor

• Fat Tax

Judith Bell, Oakland

(New York Times August 26, 2009)

• How to help stem the tide of obesity

Juliet Sims, Oakland

(San Francisco Chronicle August 22, 2009)

• Krauthammer preventive-care solution not sufficient

Larry Cohen, Oakland

(Chicago Tribune August 18, 2009)

• Can Health Insurers Be Cost-Cutters?

By Larry Cohen, Executive Director of the Prevention Institute, Oakland

(New York Times, May 13, 2009, page A-30)

• Community Prevention Saves Money

Erica Valdovinos, Oakland

(response to Fortune magazine, July 9, 2009)

• Prevention is key

Linda Shak, Oakland

(San Francisco Chronicle, July 30, 2009, A-10)

Related Resources

• Prevention Institute's Health Reform page
• Talking Points for Advocates Speaking to Congressional Representatives
• Strengthening What Works: Critical Provisions for Prevention and Public Health in Health Reform Legislation

A memo prepared by Prevention Institute and PolicyLink

• Trust for America's Health--Health Reform page

Includes talking points for community prevention, summaries of all HR bills, and constant updates on the process as well as lists of the most important legislators to contact