On March 1, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and the Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) released this report examining public health spending at the state and federal level.  The report found that states have cut public health funding by $392 million over the past year while federal public health spending has remained flat for five years.  According to the report, Midwestern states receive the least federal funding for public health while Northeastern states receive the most.  The report includes state-level data and numerous state-level rankings. 

From the report:

A range of factors, like education, employment, income, family and social support, community safety, and the physical environment, impact our health. But in many communities, obstacles also exist that make it hard for people to make healthy choices, and consequently, disease rates are higher in those areas. For instance, if there is not a safe place for children to play in a neighborhood, it makes it difficult for them to get enough exercise, or if there is no accessible grocery store close by, it makes it a challenge to buy nutritious foods.

One big factor in the health of a community is whether or not they have a strong public health system. Public health departments can help improve the health of communities, since they are responsible for finding ways to address the systemic reasons why some communities are healthier than others – and for developing policies and programs to remove obstacles that get in the way of making healthy choices possible.

Full report:  Shortchanging America’s Health: A State-by-State Look at How Public Health Dollars are Spent and Key State Health Facts (PDF | 443.23 KB)

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. (2010). Shortchanging America’s health: A state-by-state look at how public health dollars are spent and key state health facts. Levi, J., St. Laurent, R., Segal, L.M., Vinter, S.