Minnesota shortchanged by federal funding for disease and injury prevention programs

Photo: alvi2047/Flickr

According to new figures released by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Trust for America's Health, Minnesota ranked 41st out of 50 states in the amount of federal funding it received from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention -- $16.50 per person -- to support disease and injury prevention programs last year.

Midwest states in general also received the least federal funding support for disease prevention -- $16.50 per person, according to the study. That's $3.30 less per person than the Northeastern states' $19.80 per person. Western states get $19.22 per person, and Southern states get$19.75 per person.

Alaska topped the list with $58.65 per person, while Virginia was bottom of the list, with $13.33 per person. The national average was $19.23 per person.

2009. According to Shortchanging America's Health: A State-By-State Look at Public Health Funding in the United States, Minnesota received $16.50 per person - a total of $86,876,902 - which is above average for the Midwestern region.

Trust for America's Health bills itself as a non-partisan outfit dedicated to disease prevention. It's led by former Connecticut congressman and governor Lowell Weicker, a Republican. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is the largest philanthropy in the country devoted to health care issues.