Obama Budget Positive Step Toward National Commitment to Chronic Disease Prevention

Statement attributable to:
Tracey Moorhead
President and Chief Executive Officer, DMAA: The Care Continuum Alliance

"Today, President Obama takes an important and welcome step toward a national commitment to chronic disease prevention and care. We must act now to move from a system of reactionary care to one focused on prevention and promotion of health as a shared national resource. Our economic future might depend on it.

"The president's budget, and the recent economic stimulus provisions for prevention and expansion of health information technology, direct health care dollars to where they are needed most: prevention and care strategies shown to create value and improve outcomes. His plan also recognizes the basic need to help the uninsured and underinsured maintain health status, rather than become costly victims of chronic illness.

"Successful approaches to chronic condition care, including those in Medicare Advantage and Medicaid, have generated improved health care quality and cost savings. These examples demonstrate that strategies to help prevent and manage chronic conditions must be as varied as the populations they serve.

"Population health improvement providers - prevention and wellness companies, disease management organizations and others serving people with and at risk of chronic disease - are uniquely qualified to assist policymakers with designing and evaluating prevention, care coordination and care management programs. We look forward to sharing our expertise with the administration, Congress and other stakeholders in a collaborative effort to improve the quality and efficiency of care for all consumers."

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About DMAA: The Care Continuum Alliance
DMAA: The Care Continuum Alliance convenes all stakeholders providing services along the care continuum toward the goal of population health improvement. These care continuum services include strategies such as health and wellness promotion, disease management, and care coordination. DMAA: The Care Continuum Alliance promotes the role of population health improvement in raising the quality of care, improving health outcomes and reducing preventable health care costs for individuals with chronic conditions and those at risk for developing chronic conditions. DMAA's activities in support of these efforts include advocacy, research and the promotion of best practices in care management.

DMAA: The Care Continuum Alliance represents more than 200 corporate and individual stakeholders—including wellness, disease and care management organizations, pharmaceutical manufacturers and benefit managers, health information technology innovators, biotechnology innovators, employers, physicians, nurses and other health care professionals, and researchers and academicians. Visit DMAA on the Web at www.dmaa.org.