Public Health Funding in Kansas

Kansas

The United States public health system aims to keep Americans safe and healthy through health promotion, preparedness and surveillance programs, and serves as the first line of defense against epidemics. Community-based health programs can reduce preventable health care spending: One study shows that investing in school-based substance misuse programs can return up to $20 in benefits for every dollar spent. Yet governmental public health activities accounted for less than 5% of total U.S. health care spending in 2023. 

The public health response to the recent COVID-19 pandemic exposed critical weaknesses stemming from chronic underfunding of these systems at the state and national levels, including limited laboratory capacity, outdated technology and insufficient staffing.

Public health funding promotes the health of all individuals. Populations that are most affected by public health funding include: 

• Children and infants. Financial coverage for childhood immunizations and developmental screenings are crucial for protecting children and infants from potentially life-threatening preventable diseases early in life when they are most vulnerable.
• Low-income communities. People living in these communities experience the largest health and economic benefits from increased local public health spending. 
• Medicare enrollees. A 2017 study found that a 10% increase in local public health spending per capita was associated with decreases in Medicare expenditures, particularly among low-income and low-access populations.

Addressing gaps in public health financing involves securing consistent, adequate funding for foundational public health services, standardizing financial data collection and monitoring, and ensuring equitable resource distribution across communities.

State and local health departments are primarily responsible for funding and implementing public health activities, with supplemental financial support from federal agencies, particularly the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Between the CDC’s budget steadily decreasing over time and disparities in state resources, health departments rely on inconsistent streams of public health dollars to provide necessary services. The Trust for America’s Health’s (TFAH) most recent report on public health funding indicates that, under the proposed FY 2026 budget, the CDC’s funding would be cut by 53 percent. TFAH’s report offers recommendations for investments to support national and state public health infrastructure.

The Affordable Care Act established the Prevention and Public Health Fund to expand and sustain national investments in evidence-based strategies to improve health outcomes and health care quality. This fund may be eliminated in fiscal year (FY) 2026.

Iton, Anthony, Robert K. Ross, and Pritpal S. Tamber. “Building Community Power To Dismantle Policy-Based Structural Inequity In Population Health.” Health Affairs 41, no. 12 (December 2022). https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2022.00540.

Mays, Glen P., and Cezar B. Mamaril. “Public Health Spending and Medicare Resource Use: A Longitudinal Analysis of U.S. Communities.” Health Services Research 52, no. S2 (2017): 2357–77. https://doi.org/doi:10.1111/1475-6773.12785.

McKillop, Matt, and Dara Alpert Leiberman. The Impact of Chronic Underfunding on America’s Public Health System: Trends, Risks, and Recommendations 2024. Issue Report. Washington, D.C.: Trust for America’s Health, August 2024. https://www.tfah.org/report-details/funding-2024/.

McKillop, Matt, Dara Leiberman, and Rhea K. Farberman. Public Health Infrastructure in Crisis: HHS Workforce Cuts, Reorganizations, and Funding Reductions: Impacts and Solutions. Issue Report. Washington, D.C.: Trust for America’s Health, September 2025. https://www.tfah.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/TFAH_Funding_Report2025_FINAL.pdf.

Orr, Jason M., Jonathon P. Leider, Rachel Hogg-Graham, J. Mac McCullough, Aaron Alford, David Bishai, and Glen P. Mays. “Contemporary Public Health Finance: Varied Definitions, Patterns, and Implications.” Annual Review of Public Health 45 (2024): 359–74. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-013023-111124.

Sen-Crowe, Brendon, Mark McKenney, and Adel Elkbuli. “Public Health Prevention and Emergency Preparedness Funding in the United States: Are We Ready for the Next Pandemic?” Annals of Medicine and Surgery 59 (November 2020): 242–44. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amsu.2020.10.007.