Public Health Programs Monitor: Frequently Asked Questions

We aim to provide information that can be used by policymakers, advocates, researchers, media, and public health leaders at different levels of government, and other interested parties.

The PHPM tracks both programs and agency activities. Programs include specific funding lines that have a defined programmatic goal (e.g. CDC’s Environmental Public Health Tracking Program). Agency activities include operational and policy functions required for an agency to carry out its mission (e.g. grant management). The PHPM refers to both of these categories as “programs.”

The PHPM provides an overview of each identified program, including:

• Description of the program
• Name of federal budget line associated with the program
• Proposed and final budgetary information relevant to each program (note: funding allocations for all programs is not always available through congressional documentations, we will continue to update this information as agencies release operational documentation that may provide additional information)
• Grantee-related information
• Statuses from proposed President’s Budget Request: whether a program was proposed for elimination, reorganization, or consolidation to new offices, if applicable.

For this initial phase of the initiative, the dashboard includes programs deemed at risk of structural and funding changes identified through draft and final budgetary documents, including the Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 and 2027 President’s Budget Request. Future phases will expand beyond this list to be more comprehensive of other programs and activities that have been impacted by shifts in federal policy and funding priorities.

Information was collected from publicly available government data, including archived databases, budget and funding documents. We also validated this information with news sources and feedback from experts who understand these programs well. For a more detailed list of data sources please visit the Dashboard page to review the information under “Data Sources”

TFAH will continue to update this dashboard and related products as more information becomes available. Future updates are likely to expand on programs affected in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as well as in other health-promoting programs outside of HHS. To be notified of updates to this dashboard and written products related to this work, sign up for TFAH’s Wellness and Prevention Digest.

We aim to report information in a way that is nonpartisan, objective and transparent. To provide updates/corrections, please contact Trust for America’s Health via the following link Public Health Programs Monitor (PHMP) Feedback Survey – Fill out form.

The PHPM can be used to understand key information about federal health-promoting programs during a time of rapidly evolving policy decisions. Users may be able to use the dashboard to understand how programs have evolved and identify potential gaps these programs fill for the public’s health. Users may also be able to run their own health and economic impact analysis with this data. To access this data for analysis, please contact Trust for America’s Health via the following link: Public Health Programs Monitor (PHPM) Feedback Survey – Fill out form.