HHS Awards Prevention Funds With Community Transformation Grants

News outlets report on local winners, how they will use these new resources to promote healthy living and disease prevention and how the funding is sometimes at odds with leaders' opposition to the health law.

Kaiser Health News: Capsules: HHS Announces $103 Million In Community Transformation Grants
The Department of Health and Human Services awarded Tuesday more than $103 million through its Community Transformation Grants program, which was established by the 2010 health law. A total of 61 groups as well as state and local government agencies, spread across 36 states and one territory, will receive funding to promote healthy living and prevention locally over the next five years (Torres, 9/27).

Des Moines Register: Iowa Snares $3 million Under Federal Health-Reform Law
Gov. Terry Branstad is seeking to have the new federal health-reform program killed, but his administration successfully applied for $3 million per year in wellness grants from the program. Federal authorities announced today that they have awarded the money to Iowa to promote better eating, exercise, medical screenings and other healthy behaviors (Leys, 9/27).

The Dallas Morning News: Texas Snares Biggest Single Grant In Latest Federal Health Care Divvy-Up
The Texas Department of State Health Services received the single largest grant — $10 million — of 61 that U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced on Tuesday. The $103 million worth of grants are to help fight or prevent heart disease, cancer, stroke and diabetes. More politically relevant is the fact the money flows from the federal health care overhaul law, a.k.a. the Affordable Care Act — Obamacare, to some (Garrett, 9/27).

The Baltimore Sun: State Wins Federal Grant To Stem Chronic Disease
Maryland will receive a $1.9 million grant to prevent chronic diseases under a program created by the federal health care reform law. The grants, $103 million given out in 36 states, are aimed at reducing the biggest killers in the country, diabetes, heart disease and stokes. In Maryland, the Community Transformation Grant will be administered by the state Department of Health and Mental Hygiene in 19 smaller jurisdictions (Cohn, 9/27).

The Asociated Press/(Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn.) Pioneer Press: UW-Madison Gets $23.5 Million CDC Grant To Target Obesity, Smoking In State
Public health programs that promote healthier lifestyles will receive funding from a $23.5 million grant awarded to a University of Wisconsin-Madison department, the university said Tuesday. The Wisconsin Clearinghouse for Prevention Resources, a unit of University Health Services, plans to use the money to address obesity and tobacco use in Wisconsin and increase early screening for chronic diseases such as heart disease and cancer. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention grant will "make it easier for Wisconsin residents to be and stay healthy," the university said in a news release (9/27).