I suffered an injury last year, and I needed physical therapy to help me recover from that injury. The provider I wanted to go to wasn’t covered by my health insurance. I made the choice to see them anyway, and I had that ability because of my economic situation.

Not everybody has that choice. 

Economic status is one of the key determinants of our health. The better our economic situation, the more access we have to safe and healthy housing, nutritious food and healthcare. 

America’s Health Rankings—the ranking to which we’ve anchored our goal of leading the nation in health—tracks these types of factors to determine our ranking. For example, Kansas ranked #39 on per capita income at $38,361—nearly $5,000 less than the national average (America’s Health Rankings). According to the United Health Foundation, “individuals with lower household incomes have lower life expectancy and higher rates of disease.”

Yes—our economic status is a major indicator of our health.

The reverse is also true. 

Our Economy’s Health

At the 2025 Kansas Economic Outlook Conference, economists asked and predicted: What will Kansas look like in 50 years?

Dr. Bekah Selby-Leach, Director for the WSU Center for Economic Development and Business Research (CEDBR), said in her keynote address—Kansas on the Verge—that Kansas feels “that we are at a tipping point. That change is imminent. We feel a sense of urgency and a wave of momentum carrying us forward, and we feel that we have a choice to make.”

“ When I say Kansas is on the verge, I don’t mean it lightly,” she said. “A verge is a threshold, an edge where one step further means transformation. We’re standing at that edge right now.”

We know it will take bold vision to step over that edge for our state’s economic situation. In fact, in Leading Health, we highlight embracing a bold vision as one of the key mindsets needed to create the healthy pressure we need to elevate efforts and step over that threshold and achieve better outcomes. 

We’re talking about health, of course, but the health of our people directly contributes to the health of our Kansas economy.

During the conference, the Kansas Health Foundation previewed a body of work that makes the connection between health and economic outcomes. Our research gathered a thousand different academic articles on the connection between people’s health and the health of a company, the health of their community and the health of the state. We dialed into more than 200 of those articles to really define the connection.

Here is a preview of what we found.

• Employee Health: Poor employee health hits the bottom line of your profitability through lost productivity—often costing 2-4 times more than the cost of the care needed.
• Company Health: Firms with an employee population suffering from poor health outcomes suffer economically in what they’re able to achieve.
• Community Health: Healthier communities and states also have greater economic output and attract greater outside investment—something we desperately want here in Kansas.

Request the full report when it becomes available >>

Former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams said that community health and economic prosperity are linked. When community health is poor, community prosperity is poor. 

We cannot have one without the other. 

Health is Economic Work

If health is a major driver of our economy—from our personal and family economic situation to the economy of our businesses, communities and entire state—then Kansas’ rank at #28 in America’s Health Rankings is very, very troubling. We can’t succeed economically if our people’s health is hurting. 

Kansas has got to turn this around, and it will take all of us. 

In Leading Health, we call on every Kansan to expand their definition of health beyond the traditional thoughts of healthcare and personal fitness to a greater definition of community, economy and our ability to thrive. 

As organizations, when we improve the well-being of our employees, we unlock a chain reaction that delivers sustainable growth, job expansion and enhanced competitiveness for the long haul—improving the health of our economy for the next 50 years. 

Claim your free copy of Leading Health and join our statewide initiative to improve the health of all Kansans: Order Here >>