State Health Policy Leadership

Rural Regional Organizations for Cooperation present an opportunity to build more robust and sustainable health care solutions for rural areas.   More

Recent federal policy reforms and funding reductions pose significant challenges to state Medicaid programs. These changes will likely disrupt Medicaid agencies’ investments in innovative initiatives — such as efforts to address upstream drivers of health and modernize health information technology — that drive progress toward advancing high-quality, accessible, and cost-effective care. More

“Hi, Chris and John! How are you doing?”  Dawnie greets us cheerfully, pushing a cart full of dirty utensils towards the elevator of the… More

North Carolina’s much-heralded Medicaid experiment, which addressed social drivers of health like food, housing, and transportation more broadly and systematically than in other states, is on the brink. More

1. (Definition) A community health worker, promotore, and community health representative (CHW/P/CHR) is a frontline public health worker who is… More

Developing Sufficient Rates. As of January 2025, there was significant variation in Medicaid payment rates for CHW/P/CHR services covered by… 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

in a new View from Here, Milbank Memorial Fund President Christopher Koller discussed the breakdown in the “rules of the road” that has led to declining vaccination rates among children. More

The Milbank State Leadership Network (MSLN) hosted two virtual sessions for state-to-state discussion on opportunities and strategies related to the federal Rural Health Transformation (RHT) Program, recently launched by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). More