Government agencies

The programs (Medicaid and Medicare) of the Federal Government in the 1960s increased the accessibility to health care by the poor, both to private and the government hospitals. The Federal government also increased financial support to institutions that were primarily involved with the treatment of the poor, children and maternal care for the pregnant woman, the mental care and care of the drug dependents thus involving the counties more and more in health care. They also established community health centers, mental health centers, migrant workers health centers all of which were independent of hospitals. By these actions, the states and the counties were deeply involved in health care delivery in their communities. As mentioned previously, public health having dealt decisively with communicable diseases, added to its portfolio other aspects of health for instance DM, heart disease, and environmental health which includes air and water pollution, hazardous waste control, food recovery and sustainable food management to name a few.