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.
Focus Area
Publication
November 2025 Jessica Mar, Caitlin Otter, Michael Bailit,
Over the last decade, high and rising health care costs have squeezed patients’ wallets, strained local economies, and consumed a growing share of state budgets. In response, states have increasingly recognized the urgency of addressing unsustainable health care cost growth through innovative cost containment strategies More
Event
November 2025
Join us for a webinar to explore how states can garner compelling data insights from their All-Payers Claims Database (APCD) to inform health care affordability initiatives. More
Blog Post
October 2025 Erin Taylor, Matthew Reynolds,
This post describes ways states can safeguard and promote health equity alongside their efforts to make health care more affordable, particularly for those who bear the greatest burden of high and rising health care costs. The post identifies four overarching approaches states can take. More
October 2025 Thom Walsh,
Our experience in Vermont highlights both the strengths and the limitations of evaluating efficiency using standard measures of expenses and revenue. More
October 2025
This webinar described how states can focus their commercial market affordability efforts to impact highly resourced hospitals and health systems without endangering hospitals that would struggle to implement such policies. More
September 2025 Nathan Hostert, Andrew M. Ryan,
A recent study finds that Rhode Island’s affordability standards, which apply only to the fully insured market, have led to a 9% relative reduction in hospital prices across the entire commercial market. More
News Article
September 2025
The third annual analysis of spending growth trends across cost growth target states finds all five exceeded their targets. More
August 2025 Nathan Hostert,
In the first half of 2025, states enacted numerous laws to strengthen their health care markets. These new laws address several recurring policy issues affecting states across the country, including skyrocketing health care costs, increased consolidation in the healthcare sector, and the heightened penetration of private equity in health care systems. This brief highlights trends in state health policy across four major themes and identifies states that have made significant reforms in each of these areas this year. More
August 2025 Mary Louise Gilburg, Morgan McDonald,
The Milbank State Leadership Network hosted a virtual session for state legislators and legislative staff to discuss state legislative activity to address the rising cost of prescription drugs. More
August 2025 Rachel Block,
The passage of HR1/OBBB, the 2025 budget reconciliation law, is expected to lead to the loss of coverage for 16 million Americans, lower revenue for health systems, and add administrative burden to states. There are a few ways that states can try to minimize these harms. More
