The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced that will designate $250 million to improving disease prevention initiatives and building America’s public health Infrastructure. A large portion of the money will go towards federal, state, and community programs that focus on preventing illness and incorporate primary care into this goal, with a special focus on obesity prevention and lowering tobacco use. Another significant portion of funds will support state and local public health programs that improve the nation’s ability to prevent, detect, and respond to outbreak of infectious diseases. Read more.

Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), announced that health insurance providers will be required to allow children to remain on their parents’ insurance plan until age 26 if health insurance is not provided through their place of employement. This provision, outlined in the Affordable Care Act, was scheduled to go into effect in September, but the Administration wanted the new ruling to go into effect sooner so that young adults graduating from college this year would not have to go without health coverage during the summer months. Read more.

The Greater New Orleans area has been selected as one of 15 communities across the country to address racial health disparities and improve control of diabetes and smoking cessation rates by empowering patients through increased access to their own electronic Personal Health Records. As part of the Federal Recovery Act, The Louisiana Public Health Institute has been awarded nearly $14 million through the Beacon Community Program to link technically isolated health systems, providers and hospitals - so that medical records can be shared across health systems. This grant will not only help achieve improvements in health care quality, safety and efficiency, but it will also allow for patient information sharing among private hospitals, community clinics and school-based health centers. Read the press release for more detail.