Preventive Health Savings Act

Summary

• First Introduced: 2012
• Latest Action: Reintroduced in 2019, entitled as "A bill to amend the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 respecting the scoring of preventive health savings." (H.R. 2584/S. 1361)

Academy Resources

• Issue Brief: Preventive Health Savings Act
• Leave Behind: Preventive Health Savings Act
• Issue Brief: Value of Nutrition Services in Prevention

Key Points

• The Preventive Health Savings Act (official title, “To amend the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 respecting the scoring of preventive health savings”) will allow policymakers to more accurately assess legislation that would prevent chronic disease. This legislation would permit leaders in Congress to request that the Congressional Budget Office estimate the long-term health savings that are possible from preventive health initiatives.
• Many preventive health programs have been shown to be highly effective in preventing chronic diseases (like diabetes, heart disease and asthma) that cost our health care system billions of dollars per year. Unfortunately, the CBO does not currently take into account the long-term cost-savings associated with preventive health initiatives.
• By allowing the CBO to widen its scoring window and to evaluate the cost-saving potential of prevention programs, the Preventive Health Savings Act will enable the CBO to provide Congress with a more accurate assessment of the long-term budgetary effects of preventive health programs.