The Fund supports networks of state health policy decision makers to help identify, inspire, and inform policy leaders.
The Milbank Memorial Fund supports two state leadership programs for legislative and executive branch state government officials committed to improving population health.
The Fund identifies and shares policy ideas and analysis to advance state health leadership, strong primary care, and sustainable health care costs.
Keep up with news and updates from the Milbank Memorial Fund. And read the latest blogs from our thought leaders, including Fund President Christopher F. Koller.
The Fund publishes The Milbank Quarterly, as well as reports, issues briefs, and case studies on topics important to health policy leaders.
The Milbank Memorial Fund is is a foundation that works to improve population health and health equity.
March 1986 (Volume 64)
Quarterly Article
James C. Robinson
March 2024
Mar 11, 2024
Feb 27, 2024
Back to The Milbank Quarterly
Cost-benefit analysis-applying economic reasoning to increasingly complex health policy decisions-continues to be a source of vehement disagreement among its practitioners. More than merely technical issues in measurement and accounting are involved; basic social values embedded in different intellectual traditions are coming into conflict. The “human capital” and “willingness-to-pay” approaches can each aid policy formulation, but neither can substitute for open political process.
Author(s): James C. Robinson
Download the Article
Read on JSTOR
Volume 64, Issue 1 (pages 133–155) Published in 1986
