# Milbank Memorial Fund: Using evidence to improve population health\.

> The Fund works to improve the health of populations by connecting leaders and decision makers with the best available evidence and experience\.

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## Pages
- [Leaders of The Milbank Memorial Fund \(1905 to Present\)](https://www.milbank.org/about/history/leaders-of-the-milbank-memorial-fund-since-1905/)
- [Home](https://www.milbank.org/)
- [Peterson\-Milbank Program for Sustainable Health Care Costs](https://www.milbank.org/state-networks/peterson-milbank/): The Peterson\-Milbank Program for Sustainable Health Care Costs supports state\-led efforts to make health care more affordable for everyone\. 
- [State Networks](https://www.milbank.org/state-networks/): The Milbank Memorial Fund supports three networks of state health policymakers in an effort to fulfill its mission of improving the health of populations by connecting leaders and decision makers with the best available evidence and experience\.
- [Milbank Primary Care Leadership Networks](https://www.milbank.org/state-networks/milbank-primary-care-networks/): The Milbank Memorial Fund supports two networks of primary care leaders: a Primary Care Network of State Medicaid Agencies and the Primary Care Investment Network\. 

## Blog Posts
- [Sustaining Universal, Preventive\-Centered Care Through Neighborhood Nursing](https://www.milbank.org/2026/06/sustaining-universal-preventive-centered-care-through-neighborhood-nursing/): The fragmented multi\-payer system in the United States creates powerful disincentives against the evidence\-based interventions most likely to improve health and control costs: universal, prevention\-centered care delivered where people live, work, and gather\.
- [Addressing the Opioid Epidemic in the Bronx Through New Forms of Accountability](https://www.milbank.org/2026/06/addressing-the-opioid-epidemic-in-the-bronx-through-new-forms-of-accountability/)
- [Why Preventive Care Still Struggles Financially—Even in Value\-Based Care ](https://www.milbank.org/2026/05/why-prevention-still-struggles-financially-even-in-value-based-care/): For more than a decade, US health policy has been moving toward value\-based care, or paying for health outcomes rather than the number of services delivered\.  And yet, even within many value\-based models, preventive care often remains financially difficult to sustain\.
- [Harnessing the Capacity of Nurse Practitioners to Increase Access to Primary Care in Disadvantaged Communities](https://www.milbank.org/2025/08/harnessing-the-capacity-of-nurse-practitioners-to-increase-access-to-primary-care-in-disadvantaged-communities/): The number of nurse practitioners \(NPs\) in the United States quadrupled from 91,000 in 2007 to 431,000 in 2024\. But does this remarkable growth result in improved access to primary care where it is needed most?
- [A Year After CDC, It’s Still About the People ](https://www.milbank.org/2026/05/a-year-after-cdc-its-still-about-the-people/): One year ago in April, I walked off CDC’s campus for the last time, after spending over 20 years in the agency\. 

## News Articles
- [Navigating Gubernatorial Transition in North Carolina: A Q\&A with Debra Farrington of NC DHHS](https://www.milbank.org/news/navigating-gubernatorial-transition-in-north-carolina-a-qa-with-debra-farrington-of-nc-dhhs/): In this interview about managing executive branch transitions in state government, Debra Farrington, Deputy Secretary for Health in the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, emphasized identifying priorities, engaging with legislators, and documenting relationships with community partners, so that important initiatives are understood as shared commitments\.
- [Achieving Paid Family Leave in Minnesota: A Q\&A with Senator Alice Mann and Former Representative Ruth Richardson ](https://www.milbank.org/news/achieving-paid-family-leave-in-minnesota-a-qa-with-senator-alice-mann-and-former-representative-ruth-richardson/): In January, Minnesota launched its paid family and medical leave program, making it one of 13 states with a statewide paid leave program in place or in process\. For this Q\&A, Milbank’s National Director for Population Health, Morgan McDonald, MD, talked with the legislation’s sponsors, Former Rep\. Ruth Richardson, an alumna of the Emerging Leaders Program, and Sen\. Alice Mann, MD, an alumna of the Milbank Fellows Program, about their motivations and approach to passing the bill\. Both interviewees highlighted how their ongoing communication with each other and with the members of a large and diverse coalition — as well as their use of both storytelling and data — led to this investment in Minnesota’s families and businesses\. \(Watch a video of the interview at right\.\)
- [Managing Medicaid Through a Gubernatorial Transition: A Q\&A with Jeff Lunardi](https://www.milbank.org/news/managing-medicaid-through-a-gubernatorial-transition-a-qa-with-jeff-lunardi/): In this edited Q\&A and video with Milbank’s Morgan McDonald, MD, Jeff Lunardi—then interim Medicaid director at Virginia’s Department of Medical Assistance Services \(Cardinal Care\)—shares practical lessons on prioritization, nonpartisan leadership, and agency stability during a gubernatorial handoff\.
- [Lashawn Richburg\-Hayes, PhD, Elected Milbank Memorial Fund Chair ](https://www.milbank.org/news/lashawn-richburg-hayes-phd-elected-milbank-memorial-fund-chair/)
- [How States with Health Care Cost Growth Targets Are Using Their Data to Develop Bold New Policy Approaches to Constrain Spending](https://www.milbank.org/news/how-states-with-health-care-cost-growth-targets-are-using-their-data-to-develop-bold-new-policy-approaches-to-constrain-spending/)

## Publications
- [Fact Sheet: Extending Medicaid Section 1115 Policies to Improve Health for Medicare and Medicaid Beneficiaries](https://www.milbank.org/publications/fact-sheet-extending-medicaid-section-1115-policies-to-improve-health-for-medicare-and-medicaid-beneficiaries/): Medicaid Section 1115 demonstration projects, commonly referred to as waivers, are widely used by states to test innovative approaches to improving population health through Medicaid programs\.
- [Fact Sheet: Policies to Address Criminal Justice as a Driver of Poor Health](https://www.milbank.org/publications/fact-sheet-policies-to-address-criminal-justice-as-a-driver-of-poor-health/): The criminal justice system's influence on health includes not only direct physical harm, but also chronic stress, mental health crises, infectious disease transmission, and the erosion of community social capital\.
- [More Illness, Greater Cost Spotlight Brief: Heat Emergencies ](https://www.milbank.org/publications/more-illness-greater-cost-spotlight-brief-heat-emergencies/): This Spotlight Brief demonstrates the health and economic impacts of heat emergencies, using a summer heat wave as a case study\.
- [Community Voices from North Carolina’s Healthy Opportunities Pilots Program: Implications for Designing and Evaluating Programs to Address Upstream Drivers of Health](https://www.milbank.org/publications/community-voices-from-north-carolinas-healthy-opportunities-pilots-program-implications-for-designing-and-evaluating-programs-to-address-upstream-drivers-of-health/): North Carolina’s Healthy Opportunities Pilots \(HOP\) program, which was paused in July 2025 due to state funding constraints, tested whether providing evidence\-based services to address upstream drivers of health for eligible Medicaid members could improve health outcomes, reduce costs, and address disparities in three predominantly rural regions of the state\.
- [State Action to Improve Maternal \& Child Health with the Rural Health Transformation Program: Virtual Convening of Milbank State Leadership Network Recap](https://www.milbank.org/publications/state-action-to-improve-maternal-child-health-with-the-rural-health-transformation-program-virtual-convening-of-milbank-state-leadership-network-recap/): The Milbank State Leadership Network hosted a virtual session for state legislators and executive branch leaders to discuss how states are planning to leverage the Rural Health Transformation Program \(RHTP\) to improve maternal and child health \(MCH\)\. Leaders from Mississippi, Indiana, and Oklahoma shared early implementation strategies, highlighting how states are aligning funding, infrastructure, and community partnerships to expand access to care and improve outcomes\. 

## Quarterly Volumes
- [Volume 104](https://www.milbank.org/quarterly-volume/volume-104/)
- [Volume 103](https://www.milbank.org/quarterly-volume/volume-103/)
- [Volume 102](https://www.milbank.org/quarterly-volume/volume-102/)
- [Volume 101](https://www.milbank.org/quarterly-volume/volume-101/)
- [Volume 100](https://www.milbank.org/quarterly-volume/volume-100/)

## Quarterly Issues
- [Disease Burden, Mortality, and Life Expectancy in the United States](https://www.milbank.org/quarterly/issues/disease-burden-mortality-and-life-expectancy-in-the-united-states/)
- [June 2026](https://www.milbank.org/quarterly/issues/june-2026/)
- [March 2026](https://www.milbank.org/quarterly/issues/march-2026/)
- [December 2025](https://www.milbank.org/quarterly/issues/december-2025/)
- [September 2025](https://www.milbank.org/quarterly/issues/september-2025/)

## Quarterly Articles
- [Missed Opportunities: Using Medicaid Section 1115 Projects to Improve the Health of Medicaid and Medicare Beneficiaries](https://www.milbank.org/quarterly/articles/missed-opportunities-using-medicaid-section-1115-projects-to-improve-the-health-of-medicaid-and-medicare-beneficiaries/): Medicaid Section 1115 demonstration projects are widely used to test innovative policies but are subject to “budget neutrality” limits so that federal expenditures do not exceed what the federal government would have spent if the project was not adopted\.
- [A New Playbook: State\-Driven Solutions for Resilient Health Data](https://www.milbank.org/quarterly/articles/a-new-playbook-state-driven-solutions-for-resilient-health-data/): Health equity depends on data equity: the representation of communities in the data used to identify disparities, target interventions, and hold systems accountable\.
- [Firearms as a Market\-Driven Epidemic: Potential Pathways to Reduce Preventable Firearm\-Related Harm in the United States](https://www.milbank.org/quarterly/articles/firearms-as-a-market-driven-epidemic-potential-pathways-to-reduce-preventable-firearm-related-harm-in-the-united-states/): The United States has among the highest firearm\-related deaths in the world\.
- [How Does SNAP Access Prior to Pregnancy Affect Maternal and Infant Health Outcomes?](https://www.milbank.org/quarterly/articles/how-does-snap-access-prior-to-pregnancy-affect-maternal-and-infant-health-outcomes/): Able\-bodied adults without dependents \(ABAWDs\) are eligible for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits for only 3 months in any 36\-month period, after which they are subject to a work requirement to continue receiving benefits\.
- [Chronic Absence as a Public Health Priority: A Framework for Coordinated Action](https://www.milbank.org/quarterly/articles/chronic-absence-as-a-public-health-priority-a-framework-for-coordinated-action/): Chronic absence, defined as missing more than 10% of time in school, has risen sharply in the United States following the COVID\-19 pandemic and now affects more than one in four students\.

## Quarterly Opinions
- [Guiding Principles for Cultivating a Sustainable Culture for Policy Innovation](https://www.milbank.org/quarterly/opinions/guiding-principles-for-cultivating-a-sustainable-culture-for-policy-innovation/): Federal, state, and local governments have increasingly focused on innovation, hiring Chief Innovation or Technology Officers to find solutions to improve the delivery of benefits and services and to address unresolved health care issues\.
- [Mother Nature Is Screaming: Two Viral Spillovers — Ebola and Hantavirus Emergencies — Expose our Vulnerabilities](https://www.milbank.org/quarterly/opinions/mother-nature-is-screaming-two-viral-spillovers-ebola-and-hantavirus-emergencies-expose-our-vulnerabilities/)
- [Public Policy Cornerstones of America’s Financialized Health Care System](https://www.milbank.org/quarterly/opinions/public-policy-cornerstones-of-americas-financialized-health-care-system/): I’ve been examining how public policies have facilitated the transformation of America’s health and medical care systems into today’s financialized and commercialized realities\.
- [The Hondius Outbreak Shows What Happens When the CDC Retreats from the World](https://www.milbank.org/quarterly/opinions/the-hondius-outbreak-shows-what-happens-when-the-cdc-retreats-from-the-world/): For more than three decades, I have worked alongside the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention \(CDC\) during many of the world’s most consequential biological threats—from the containment of SARS\-CoV\-1 and the West African Ebola epidemic to the global responses to Zika and COVID\-19\.
- [A Mental Health Lifeline: How Psychedelics Could Offer Millions of Americans Hope](https://www.milbank.org/quarterly/opinions/a-mental-health-lifeline-how-psychedelics-could-offer-millions-of-americans-hope/): For patients who have exhausted evidence\-based therapies—including selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors \(SSRIs\), atypical antipsychotics, and cognitive behavioral interventions—access to experimental treatments should be no less available than it is for individuals with refractory cancer or Parkinson’s disease\.

## Press Releases
- [New Study: Ultra\-Processed Food Manufacturers Are Applying Tobacco Industry Methods to Drive Overconsumption](https://www.milbank.org/quarterly/press-releases/new-study-ultra-processed-food-manufacturers-are-applying-tobacco-industry-methods-to-drive-overconsumption/)
- [New Index Tracks US State Progress on Promoting the Health and Well\-Being of Older Populations for the First Time](https://www.milbank.org/quarterly/press-releases/new-index-tracks-us-state-progress-on-promoting-the-health-and-well-being-of-older-populations-for-the-first-time/)
- [Health Policy Must\-Haves for the Biden Administration](https://www.milbank.org/quarterly/press-releases/health-policy-must-haves-for-the-biden-administration/): Building Back Better is a new series offering policy recommendations for the Biden administration throughout the transition period authored by members of the Quarterly’s Editorial Advisory Board\.
- [The Milbank Quarterly Announces New Editorial Advisory Board](https://www.milbank.org/quarterly/press-releases/the-milbank-quarterly-announces-new-editorial-advisory-board/)
- [State Policy Polarization May Be Driving Life Expectancy by State](https://www.milbank.org/quarterly/press-releases/state-policy-polarization-may-be-driving-life-expectancy-by-state/)

## Events
- [Milbank Quarterly Webinar: Using the New US State Policy Index for Population Health Research](https://www.milbank.org/event/milbank-quarterly-webinar-using-the-new-us-state-policy-index-for-population-health-research/)
- [Webinar: The Engineering and Regulation of Ultraprocessed Foods](https://www.milbank.org/event/webinar-the-engineering-and-regulation-of-ultraprocessed-foods/): Join us for a Milbank Quarterly webinar  to discuss research on ultraprocessed foods \(UPFs\), lessons from tobacco prevention and control efforts, and steps to restrict UPFs in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program \(SNAP\)\.
- [2026 Health of US Primary Care Webinar: Primary Care—The Missing Strategy in America’s Fight Against Chronic Disease](https://www.milbank.org/event/2026-primary-care-scorecard-webinar-primary-care-the-missing-strategy-in-americas-fight-against-chronic-disease/)
- [Winning Public Trust Through Better Health Communication](https://www.milbank.org/event/winning-public-trust-through-better-health-communication/)
- [Milbank Quarterly Webinar: Opioid Settlement Funds — Policy Recommendations and Implementation Insights ](https://www.milbank.org/event/milbank-quarterly-webinar-opioid-settlement-funds-policy-recommendations-and-implementation-insights/)

## Virtual Briefings
- [States Strategies for the Rural Health Transformation Program](https://www.milbank.org/virtual-briefing/october-2025-rural-health-transformation-program/): The Milbank State Leadership Network hosted a virtual convening on October 14 and 15, 2025, 12:00\-1:30 pm ET, to discuss states plans for the new Rural Health Transformation \(RHT\) Program\.

- [Rural Health Transformation Program and Maternal Child Health](https://www.milbank.org/virtual-briefing/rural-health-transformation-program-and-maternal-child-health/)
- [State Strategies for Sustaining Community Health Workers](https://www.milbank.org/virtual-briefing/sustaining-state-strategies-for-community-health-workers/)
- [State Responses to Rising Prescription Costs](https://www.milbank.org/virtual-briefing/state-responses-to-rising-prescription-costs/)
- [State Legislative Action on Medicaid and Behavioral Health](https://www.milbank.org/virtual-briefing/milbank-state-leadership-network-exclusive-briefing-state-legislative-action-on-medicaid-and-behavioral-health/): The Milbank State Leadership Network and experts from the National Conference of State Legislatures \(NCSL\) met on  February 20, 2025, for a discussion on how states are approaching Medicaid and behavioral health policy during this legislative season\. 

## Tags
- [blog](https://www.milbank.org/tag/blog/)
- [Christopher Koller](https://www.milbank.org/tag/christopher-koller/)
- [Reforming States Group](https://www.milbank.org/tag/reforming-states-group/)
- [Center for Evidence\-based Policy](https://www.milbank.org/tag/center-for-evidence-based-policy/)
- [Multi\-State Collaborative](https://www.milbank.org/tag/multi-state-collaborative/)

## Focus Area
- [State Health Policy Leadership](https://www.milbank.org/focus-area/state-health-policy-leadership/)
- [Primary Care Transformation](https://www.milbank.org/focus-area/primary-care-transformation/)
- [Health Care Affordability](https://www.milbank.org/focus-area/health-care-affordability/)
- [Health of US Primary Care Scorecard](https://www.milbank.org/focus-area/health-us-primary-care-scorecard/)

## Publication Topic
- [Population Health](https://www.milbank.org/publication-topic/population-health/)
- [Peterson\-Milbank Program for Sustainable Health Care Costs](https://www.milbank.org/publication-topic/peterson-milbank/)
- [Medicaid](https://www.milbank.org/publication-topic/medicaid/)
- [Primary Care Investment](https://www.milbank.org/publication-topic/primary-care-investment/)
- [Health Equity](https://www.milbank.org/publication-topic/health-equity/)

## Quarterly Topic
- [Population Health](https://www.milbank.org/quarterly-topic/population-health/)
- [Health Equity](https://www.milbank.org/quarterly-topic/health-equity/)
- [Public Health](https://www.milbank.org/quarterly-topic/public-health/)
- [State Health Policy](https://www.milbank.org/quarterly-topic/state-health-policy/)
- [COVID\-19](https://www.milbank.org/quarterly-topic/covid-19/)

## Optional
- [Sitemap index](https://www.milbank.org/sitemap_index.xml)