Dear Governor Wolf and Secretary,
The Pennsylvania Health Policy Coalition represents the state’s ten county and municipal health departments. We write to request a substantial increase in Act 12 and Act 315 funding for local health departments.
Pennsylvania’s local health departments (LHDs) face unique challenges addressing public health in our communities. While the federal government has disinvested from public health services and our local governments are experiencing dramatic revenue losses, the breadth and complexity of public health work has increased. Today public health departments today are expected to respond to the health consequences of the Coronavirus pandemic, climate change, gun violence, and more.
The Commonwealth’s primary strategy for funding county and municipal health departments has been through Acts 12 and 315. Those acts fund public health programs, health services, and administrative and support services. Yet when adjusted for inflation, Acts 12 and 315 funding levels have declined by over $18 million since 2010.
Under Act 315, local health departments may receive state funding of up to 50 percent of total expenditures, but no more than $6 for every person within each jurisdiction. Act 12, a 1976 amendment to Act 315, authorized the commonwealth to pay local health departments an additional annual grant of up to $1.50 per resident for environmental health services. This funding, administered through the Pennsylvania Department of Health, can account for more than a quarter of a local health department’s budget. Today, Pennsylvania’s ten local health departments are responsible for the health of 42 percent of the State’s population. Yet while LHD’s consistently face shrinking budgets and expanding health service needs, Act 12 and 315 funding, adjusted for inflation, has decreased by 40 percent over the last decade.
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