Additional data uncovered by the report tells a more nuanced story, including:

• A 13% increase in high health status – the percentage of adults reporting that their health was very good or excellent—nationally between 2019 and 2020. This reverses a downward trend that began in 2012.
• A 7% decrease in the prevalence of cancer, which had increased 9% between 2016 and 2019. However, screenings declined for breast cancer (17%) and colon cancer (23%) between 2019 and 2020.
• A 5% decrease in the percentage of adults engaged in excessive alcohol consumption to 17.6%, the lowest level since 2014.

The report also found that public health funding increased 33% nationally from $87 to $116 per person between 2017-2018 and 2019-2020 — the highest level since at least 2015.

About America’s Health Rankings

For over three decades, America’s Health Rankings^® has assessed the nation’s health and provided data-driven insights to support better health outcomes and build healthier communities. Produced by the United Health Foundation, America’s Health Rankings evaluates a comprehensive set of health, environmental and socioeconomic data to illuminate both health challenges and successes, determine national and state health benchmarks and enable stakeholders to take action in improving health.

Click here to read the full report and see details related to key issues facing the industry today.