Wellness and Nutrition Reports:

Piloting a New Way Forward: Using Farm Bill Pilots to Guide Future Ag Policy

An important but often overlooked component of the Farm Bill is the use of pilot programs and projects: small-scale testing programs operated over a short period of time to determine the viability of long-term nationwide programs. Pilot programs are a financially effective ways for policymakers to attempt new programs on small scale before committing taxpayer dollars. This report seeks to inform policymakers and experts on the outcome of pilot programs included in Farm Bills from 1981 to 2018.

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act: Establishing Wellness and Prevention as National Priorities Sen. Harkin authored many prevention provisions including the creation of the $15 billion Prevention and Public Health Fund, a dedicated stream of funding for public health, wellness, and prevention initiatives. The ACA also included workplace wellness initiatives and nutrition labeling requirements.

Expanding Community Health Centers Throughout his 25 years as chair or ranking member of the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Subcommittee, Sen. Harkin tripled funding for community health centers from $496 million in 1989 to $1.5 billion in 2014.

Supporting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Senator Harkin spread national awareness of the importance of prevention by changing the name of the Centers for Disease Control in 1991 to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He was also instrumental in more than tripling the CDC’s annual funding from 1995 to 2014. That increase from $2.1 billion to $6.8 billion allowed for historic investments in prevention.

Leadership in Smoking Cessation In 1994, Sen. Harkin expanded research to include the impact of tobacco smoking. In 1998, he introduced a bipartisan bill to give the FDA authority to regulate tobacco.

Improving Mental Health Care As a longtime champion of equitable insurance coverage for mental health conditions, Sen. Harkin introduced numerous programs to enhance the nation’s capacity for awareness, prevention, early identification, and services and treatment for mental health conditions.

Investing in Critical Medical Research Senator Harkin has been a leader in the investment in the National Institutes of Health’s biomedical research that has yielded many important breakthroughs. He has also worked tirelessly to secure resources for continued support of groundbreaking science.

Safeguarding the Food Supply Sen. Harkin guided the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act, one of the most significant improvements to America’s food and safety standards in decades. This act enforced higher restrictions to keep food safe from farm to fork for all Americans.

Ensuring Safe and Effective Drugs and Medical Devices Sen. Harkin worked to modernize oversight of drug manufacturing, establish a nationwide drug-tracking system, transform the pharmaceutical distribution system, and regulate drug compounding.