Enacting social and economic policies known to improve health and.Making deeper and smarter investments in education, infrastructure, economic security, housing, and other parts of the budget that can improve health.Leveraging Medicaid to improve access to other economic and social programs known to improve health, like case management and supportive housing.Improving access to affordable health care, including by expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).States and localities can improve residents’ health and help close health gaps between racial and ethnic groups by: Health outcomes are particularly bad for certain communities of color and for low-income individuals. When compared to other developed nations, the United States performs below average, and often near the bottom of the rankings, on traditional health measures like life expectancy, infant mortality, and low birthweight. population less healthy than it could be, weakening the prospects for future widespread prosperity. States’ lack of investment in programs that would improve health as well as state and local fiscal policies that have worsened racial inequities have left the U.S. In nearly every state, state and local tax systems require the poorest residents to pay more in taxes as a share of their income than the richest residents, an upside-down system that makes it even harder for the residents facing the greatest barriers to live healthy lives. But focusing exclusively on health care ignores the importance of a wide variety of state and local investments in promoting better health.Įven the ways states and localities raise revenue have implications for health outcomes, given the deep connections between poverty, inequality, and health. Much more can be done to improve how the health care delivery system connects people to services and supports known to improve health. But even as this understanding grows, most efforts to improve health remain focused on the health care delivery system. States and localities can improve their residents’ health - as well as their own economies and opportunities for greater prosperity - by making smarter and deeper investments in health programs, education, the environment, infrastructure, transit, and other public services.A broad body of research has documented the effects that social determinants of health have on health outcomes, like life expectancy, maternal and child health, and rates of chronic disease, and on disparities in the health of people across racial groups and income levels. States and localities can improve their residents’ health - as well as their own economies and opportunities for greater prosperity - by making smarter and deeper investments in health programs, education, the environment, infrastructure, transit, and other public services. While this includes their decisions about Medicaid and the other important health care programs they administer, it also includes a wide array of budget and policy decisions that affect the “social determinants of health” - the conditions in which people live, work, learn, and play. States’ and localities’ decisions significantly affect their residents’ health.
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