Publications

The Milbank Memorial Fund has published The Milbank Quarterly, a peer-reviewed journal of population health and health policy since 1923. It has also commissioned and published reports since early in the last century. Today, the Fund publishes reports, issue briefs, and case studies, as well as blogs, reported articles, and the View from Here. If you would like to suggest a publication idea within our key areas of state health leadership, primary care, or sustainable health care costs, please email Communications Director Christine Haran at charan@milbank.org.

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  • Issue Brief

    Advancing State-Based Health Reform through the NC State Transformation Collaborative: A Multistakeholder Initiative in Action

    June 2025 Brianna Van Stekelenburg Rebecca G. Whitaker Samantha Repka Emily Proehl Catie Armstrong Aparna Higgins Elizabeth Kasper Leonard A. Croom Janelle White Hilary Campbell Robert S. Saunders

    Many health providers are interested in making the shift to value-based payment (VBP), as these models can give greater flexibility in providing whole-person care, but administrative burden, variation in payer contracts, and a rapidly changing policy environment can impede their participation and success in these models. Streamlining the administration of payment models and adding supports like data sharing across payers and providers can make it easier for organizations by enabling more flexibility in care delivery, timely access to actionable information, and increased support for the health care workforce.  More

  • Fact Sheet

    State Approaches to Addressing Hospital Costs: Virtual Convening of Milbank State Leadership Network Recap

    June 2025 Mary Louise Gilburg Morgan McDonald

    The Milbank State Leadership Network hosted a virtual session for state legislators and legislative staff to discuss factors contributing to rising health care costs as well as opportunities for states to slow spending growth and make health care more affordable, with a particular focus on hospital costs. The briefing was hosted in partnership with Bailit Health, the technical assistance provider for the Peterson-Milbank Program for Sustainable Healthcare Costs.  More

  • Report

    Building Bridges to Value: Infrastructure Essentials for Community Health Centers

    May 2025 Hope Glassberg Henry Chung Jordanna Davis Adam J. Falcone Alison Gold

    This report offers community health centers, their partners, policymakers, and others a place to start in addressing challenges to implementing value-based payment models, particularly as the safety net faces potential cuts in federal funding for Medicaid.  More

  • Toolkit

    Making Health Care More Affordable: A Playbook for Implementing a State Health Care Cost Growth Target, 2025 Edition

    May 2025 January Angeles Erin Taylor

    Introduction  Policymakers across the political spectrum have long recognized the widespread and growing burdens posed by high and rising…  More

  • Report

    State Strategies for Efficiently Allocating Health Resources: Use of Area-Level Indices in Policy, Funding, and Reimbursement

    May 2025 Casey Balio Nicole Galler Nathan Dockery Michael Meit

    Abstract The United States ranks below peer nations on many measures of health status, health care access and quality, and health outcomes while…  More

  • Fact Sheet

    Guide to Hospital Price Growth Targets

    May 2025 Sarah Kinsler Caitlin Otter

    This document describes the hospital-specific market basket methodology, which states can use to calculate hospital performance against the hospital price growth target. The Peterson-Milbank Program for Sustainable Health Care Costs funded the development of code that can be used to perform this analysis using state all-payer claims data. The document also includes key design and implementation considerations for states pursuing a hospital price growth target.  More

  • Issue Brief

    Foundational Values for Whole Person Health

    April 2025 Hoangmai H. Pham Wayne Jonas Mark Smith

    This brief identifies beliefs and common practices in health care culture that the authors suggest have hindered the spread of these models, as well as opportunities for the policymakers and influencers, payers, and clinicians to support whole-person health.   More

  • Issue Brief

    The Corporate Backdoor to Medicine: How MSOs Are Reshaping Physician Practices

    April 2025 Hayden Rooke-Ley Megha Reddy Neil Mehta Yashaswini Singh Erin C. Fuse Brown

    Private equity firms, insurance companies, and other corporate entities are using MSOs to bypass state prohibitions on the corporate practice of medicine, allowing large corporations to functionally own medical practices and influence clinical care.  More

  • Fact Sheet

    Legislator Briefing on Funding Cuts to State and Local Public Health: Virtual Convening of the Milbank State Leadership Network

    April 2025 Sofia Espinosa Morgan McDonald

    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

  • Issue Brief

    Report from the Frontlines of US Primary Care on the Impact of Recent Federal Policy Changes

    March 2025 Rebecca S. Etz Kevin Grumbach Larry A. Green Kurt C. Stange

    Primary care clinicians are a bellwether for the state of health care and health in the United States. With the Trump Administration moving at…  More