Please note: This website has recently moved from www.health.gov to odphp.health.gov. www.health.gov is now the official website of ODPHP’s parent organization, the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH). Please update your bookmarks for easy access to all our resources. 

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion

Health Policy

Goal: Use health policy to prevent disease and improve health.

Two health care providers and two people in business suits sit around a table and talk.

Health policy can have a major impact on health and well-being. Healthy People 2030 focuses on keeping people safe and healthy through laws and policies at the local, state, territorial, and federal level.

Evidence-based health policies can help prevent disease and promote health. For example, smoke-free policies can help prevent smoking initiation and increase quit attempts. Similarly, policies requiring community water systems to provide fluoridated water can improve oral health.

Establishing informed policies is key to improving health nationwide.

Objective Status

  • 2 Target met or exceeded
  • 2 Improving
  • 3 Little or no detectable change
  • 0 Getting worse
  • 1 Baseline only
  • 0 Developmental
  • 1 Research

Learn more about objective types

Related Objectives

The following is a sample of objectives related to this topic. Some objectives may include population data.

Health Policy — General

Increase the proportion of people whose water systems have the recommended amount of fluoride — OH‑11
Baseline only

Environmental Health

Increase the proportion of people whose water supply meets Safe Drinking Water Act regulations — EH‑03
Target met or exceeded

Tobacco Use

Increase the number of states, territories, and DC that raise the minimum age for tobacco sales to 21 years — TU‑23
Target met or exceeded
Increase Medicaid coverage of evidence-based treatment to help people quit using tobacco — TU‑16
Improving
Increase the national average tax on cigarettes — TU‑21
Improving
Increase the number of states, territories, and DC that prohibit smoking in worksites, restaurants, and bars — TU‑17
Little or no detectable change
Eliminate policies in states, territories, and DC that preempt local tobacco control policies — TU‑20
Little or no detectable change
Reduce the proportion of adolescents exposed to tobacco marketing — TU‑22
Little or no detectable change
Increase the number of states, territories, and DC that prohibit smoking in multiunit housing — TU‑R01
Research

Other topics you may be interested in