TABLE 3—
Responsibilities of US State Health Agencies: 1990 and 2001
| 1990, No. (%) | 2001, No. (%) | |
| State public health authority | 50 (100.0) | 46 (97.9) |
| Rural health | . . .a | 37 (78.7) |
| Public health laboratory | . . .a | 37 (78.7) |
| Children with special health care needs | 39 (76.5) | 36 (76.6) |
| Minority health | . . .a | 34 (72.3) |
| Institutional licensing agency | 41 (80.4) | 28 (59.6) |
| State health planning and development agency | 22 (43.1) | 26 (55.3) |
| Partial/split leadership of environmental agency | . . .a | 24 (51.1) |
| Institutional certifying authority for federal reimbursement | 40 (78.4) | 20 (42.6) |
| Public health pharmacy | . . .a | 16 (34.0) |
| State nursing home | . . .a | 13 (27.7) |
| Medical examiner | . . .a | 10 (21.3) |
| State mental health authority encompasses substance abuse | . . .a | 9 (19.1) |
| State health professional licensing agency | 10 (19.6) | 8 (17.0) |
| State mental institution or hospital | 16 (31.4) | 8 (17.0) |
| Partial/split responsibility for Medicaid | 1 (2.0) | 8 (17.0) |
| Medicaid single-state agency | 5 (9.8) | 7 (14.9) |
| Lead environmental agency | 15 (29.4) | 7 (14.9) |
| State tuberculosis hospital | . . .a | 7 (14.9) |
| Health insurance regulation | . . .a | 7 (14.9) |
| Disability determination | . . .a | 4 (8.5) |
| State mental health authority does not encompass substance abuse | 4 (7.8) | 1 (2.1) |
| Correctional health | . . .a | 0 (0.0) |
Note. The 1990 comparison data (derived from the 1991 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] report described in the Introduction of this article3) may underestimate the number of states with these responsibilities, because data were gathered from the narrative for each state. The narrative highlights reported by the CDC may not have included all of the activities occurring within the state.
aNot available.