In many states, research centers at public universities are partnering with their Medicaid agencies to conduct data-driven policy analysis and support program devel­opment, monitoring, and evaluation. These state-uni­versity partnerships offer unique advantages as states strive to serve as laboratories for state innovation and address the many challenges facing Medicaid programs today, including the opioid crisis and the coronavirus pan­demic. Importantly, partnerships offer new opportunities for cross-disciplinary research and engaged scholarship involving faculty from medicine, public health, public poli­cy, data science, economics, and other disciplines.

The State-University Partnership Learning Network (SUPLN) was established in 2014 to support the growing network of state–university partnerships. Currently, Medicaid agencies in 25 states have active partnerships with 30 public universities. AcademyHealth’s SUPLN is managed by their Evidence-Informed State Health Policy Institute whose collective mission includes working with state health policymakers and researchers to advance health by moving evidence into action.

AcademyHealth and the Milbank Memorial Fund have developed the following documents for state university and Medicaid agencies interested in learning more about these partnerships:

The Value Proposition for Public Universities (PDF)

The Value Proposition for Medicaid Agencies (PDF)