Engaging policymakers with authority over population health funding and policies in leadership development has great potential to depolarize issues and improve health outcomes. In a March 12, 2025, article in the American Journal of Public Health, Milbank Memorial Fund Director of Population Health Morgan McDonald, MD, shows how the Fund’s two nonpartisan legislative and executive […] More

The Milbank State Leadership Network hosted a virtual session for state legislators and legislative staff to hear directly from state and local public health officials on the impact of funding and federal program staffing cuts to core services. More

As health departments brace for potential additional funding losses, Morgan McDonald calls on state and local staff and policymakers on all sides of the aisle to communicate the impact of the cuts, particularly with their federal delegations. More

With federal funding cuts affecting local health departments, running a strong ground game is more challenging now than ever. More

For decades, the program has connected lower-income older adults and people with disabilities to the kind of care that helps them live with independence and purpose. More

In collaboration with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Milbank Memorial Fund convened the second of two virtual meetings in support of the multi-state Secretary’s Postpartum Maternal Health Collaborative. More

In the spring of 2021, my favorite T-shirt to wear on the soccer sidelines sported an image of Dolly Parton singing “Vaccine, vaccine, vaccine, vacceeeeeene” to the tune of “Jolene.” Parton herself sang the rewritten lyrics repeatedly urging Tennesseans to accept the COVID-19 vaccine. It prompted countless conversations about how the vaccine was made, where people could get it, and how safe it was. As a state public health official, my colleagues and I were rejoicing at how quickly the Trump administration had indeed delivered on a several vaccine options less than a year into the pandemic. More

Developing Sufficient Rates. As of January 2024, there was significant variation in Medicaid payment rates for CHW/P/CHR services covered by state fee-for-service (FFS) programs, ranging from just under $10 to $35 per 30 minutes.18 For comparison, the average national rate for 30 minutes of Medicare Community Health Integration services provided by a CHW is $50.26.19 States with SPAs authorizing […] More

1. (Definition) A community health worker, promotore, and community health representative (CHW/P/CHR) is a frontline public health worker who is a trusted member of and/or has an unusually close understanding of the community served. This trusting relationship enables the worker to serve as a liaison/link/intermediary between health/social services and the community to facilitate access to services […] More

Community health workers, promotores, and community health representatives have historically relied on a patchwork of grants for funding, but more than half of state Medicaid programs have now implemented some form of CHW/P/CHR coverage and payment policy. This toolkit provides model language for state Medicaid leaders and CHW/P/CHR advocates to use as they develop State Plan Amendments and accompanying guidance documents to establish coverage and payment for CHW/P/CHR services. More