The Fund supports several networks of state health policymakers to help identify, inspire, and inform policy leaders.
The Fund identifies and shares policy ideas and analysis on topics important to state health policymakers, particularly on issues related to state leadership, primary care, aging, and 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 an endowed operating foundation that aims to improve population health by connecting leaders and decision makers with the best available evidence and experience. It does this work by:
The Milbank Memorial Fund is an endowed operating foundation that publishes The Milbank Quarterly, commissions projects, and convenes state health policy decision makers on issues they identify as important to population health.
June 2019
As a group, rural residents are older and poorer than other Americans and have worse access to health care services. These are just a few of the reasons why Tom Morris, associate administrator of rural health policy for the Health Resources Services Administration, and his colleagues are working “to make sure rural issues are front and center when policy issues are considered.” More
Family and unpaid caregivers play a foundational role in the care of older adults with complex health needs and disabling conditions. In a new report cosponsored by The John A. Hartford Foundation and the Milbank Memorial Fund, researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health highlight five states—Washington, Hawaii, Maine, Minnesota, and Tennessee—that have advanced policies and programs in support of family caregivers. More
The Tennessee legislature recently passed a bill that could make it the first state to request a Medicaid block grant. Under a block grant, Tennessee would receive a fixed annual sum from the federal government for its Medicaid program rather than open-ended federal dollars. But John Kitzhaber, MD, former governor of Oregon, and Bruce Goldberg, MD, former director of the Office for Oregon Health Policy and Research, say that this approach does nothing to reduce the cost of care and hurts Medicaid recipients. More
A first step toward increasing primary care investment is measuring and reporting on existing primary care spending. In 2019, several states introduced legislation on this topic, and Colorado and Vermont now have new laws to advance these policies. More
May 2019
Many health care challenges are exacerbated in rural areas, such as limited access to services, provider shortages, and the prevalence of avoidable deaths from chronic disease and substance use disorders. In a new issue brief, Emily Whelan Parento, an O’Neill Institute Scholar at Georgetown University Law Center, summarizes information presented at three Reforming States Group regional meetings of state and federal health officials and health services researchers working on rural health issues. The brief examines the importance of health care delivery models that promote and incentivize investment in community health, the need for workforce development such as programs to train and retain providers in rural areas, and the need for ongoing rural health research and policy development. More
For a new issue brief, Noam Levey interviewed participating payers in three distinct regional markets in the Comprehensive Primary Care Plus program: Colorado, Oklahoma, and Greater Philadelphia. While the challenges inherent in fostering collaboration across companies that usually compete vigorously were handled differently in each market, common themes emerged including strong payer commitment and the need for sustained federal leadership. More
April 2019
On April 22, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Innovation Center announced a new set of payment models for primary care—”Primary… More
How much does Medicare spend on primary care? As more evidence mounts about the benefits of primary care, a growing number of health policy leaders… More
Leveraging shared data to address the opioid crisis in nine states. Addressing chronic disease management in a large safety net system in New York… More
Last month, the Milbank Memorial Fund and the United Hospital Fund released The Ripple Effect: The Impact of the Opioid Epidemic on Children and Families. The report made clear that the magnitude of the opioid epidemic’s impact is much greater than realized. In a companion case study to the report, Robert M. Hayes and Joseph Squitieri, DO, of Community Healthcare Network, a federally qualified health center in New York City, explore how community health centers are addressing the opioid epidemic. More
