Shortchanging America's Health 2008: A state-by-state look at how federal public health dollars are spent.

Publication Date: April 2008

Publisher: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Author(s):

Research Area: Health

Type: Report

Abstract:

Of all the states, those in the Midwest receive less funding from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) than other states.

That's according to Shortchanging America's Health: A State-By-State Look at How Federal Public Health Dollars Are Spent—2008, an RWJF-supported study by Trust for America's Health (TFAH). The CDC doles out an average of $16.24 per person in the Midwest states, the report finds.

Western states receive the second least, according to the report, with an average of $19.74 per person. Northeastern states receive an average of $23.37 per person, and Southern states receive the most CDC funding—an average of $29.40 per person.

In fact, federal funding for disease and injury prevention programs in states averages out to be $17.23 per person for fiscal year (FY) 2007. However, CDC funding for individual states can vary by more than $56 per person, according to the analysis. Alaska, for example, receives more than any other state, at $69.76 per person. Kansas receives the least, at $13.61 per person.

States and local communities use CDC funds for a range of public health programs, including cancer prevention, chronic disease prevention and health promotion, diabetes control, environmental health, HIV prevention, immunizations, infectious disease prevention, and bioterrorism preparedness.