Kansas health ranking declines sharply

Kansas’ overall health has plummeted from eighth in the nation to 28th over the past three decades, a new report finds.

TOPEKA — Kansas’ health ranking had one of the steepest declines in the nation in the past 30 years, according to a study that sought to identify potential reasons and fixes for the state’s downward slide.

One hundred experts determined that Kansas’ lack of a coherent policy agenda, income disparities and fragile, underfunded health care systems have contributed to the state dropping from eighth in the country in 1991 to 28th in 2024.

“Kansas’ health ranking decline reflects deeply rooted structural and cultural dynamics, not simply individual behaviors or programmatic gaps. Turning the tide will require a fundamental shift in how health is prioritized and pursued,” said four authors who recently published reports through the Kansas Health Institute under the title, “What Happened to Health in Kansas?”

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