Public Health Funding

Public Health Funding in Nevada

Nevada

Public health systems keep Americans safe and healthy through prevention, preparedness and surveillance programs and serve as the first line of defense against epidemics. Increased spending on public health programs is associated with a decrease in mortality from preventable causes such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, stroke and cancer.

Public health program spending represents just around 10% of all health care spending in most countries, yet its impact can be substantial. An investment of $10 per person per year in evidence-based community health programs could save the United States more than $16 billion annually. That is a potential savings of $5.60 for every $1 invested. The public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic was weakened by chronic underfunding of these systems at state and national levels.

Public health systems keep Americans safe and healthy through prevention, preparedness and surveillance programs and serve as the first line of defense against epidemics. Increased spending on public health programs is associated with a decrease in mortality from preventable causes such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, stroke and cancer.

• Public health program spending represents just around 10% of all health care spending in most countries, yet its impact can be substantial. An investment of $10 per person per year in evidence-based community health programs could save the United States more than $16 billion annually. That is a potential savings of $5.60 for every $1 invested. The public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic was weakened by chronic underfunding of these systems at state and national levels.

The Prevention and Public Health Fund was established by the Affordable Care Act to expand and sustain national investments in evidence-based strategies to improve health outcomes and health care quality. The Prevention Fund supports $856 million in grants for public health programs throughout the U.S., including efforts to prevent infectious diseases such as measles and influenza and chronic diseases like diabetes and heart disease. 

The effectiveness of a public health intervention, in part, depends on the resources of the community receiving the intervention. Studies have found that public health interventions focusing on behavior change are more successful in populations with high socioeconomic status, while those with low socioeconomic status or other disadvantages tend to benefit less from these interventions. Adopting a social determinants of health view of public health, which focuses on the conditions in which people live, work and play, is essential to improving health and reducing health disparities.

Baum, Fran, and Matthew Fisher. “Why Behavioural Health Promotion Endures despite Its Failure to Reduce Health Inequities.” Sociology of Health & Illness 36, no. 2 (2014): 213–25. https://doi.org/doi:10.1111/1467-9566.12112.

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.

Mays, Glen P., and Sharla A. Smith. “Evidence Links Increases in Public Health Spending to Declines in Preventable Deaths.” Health Affairs 30, no. 8 (August 2011): 1585–93. https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2011.0196.

McKillop, Matt, and Dara Alpert Lieberman. “The Impact of Chronic Underfunding on America’s Public Health System: Trends, Risks, and Recommendations, 2021.” Issue Brief. Washington, D.C.: Trust for America’s Health, 2021. https://www.tfah.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/2021_PHFunding_Fnl.pdf.

Richardson, Ann K. “Investing in Public Health: Barriers and Possible Solutions.” Journal of Public Health 34, no. 3 (August 2012): 322–27. https://doi.org/10.1093/pubmed/fds039.