We focus on a number of topic areas identified by state health policy leaders as important to population health.
Keep up with news and updates from the Milbank Memorial Fund. Get the latest from thought leaders, including Christopher F. Koller, president of the Fund.
We publish The Milbank Quarterly, as well as reports, issues briefs, and case studies on topics important to population health.
The Center for Evidence-based Policy at Oregon Health & Science University is a national leader in evidence-based decision making and policy design.
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.
May 30, 2017 | Christopher F. Koller, President
Like rising sea levels, Medicaid costs are flooding state and federal budgets. Medicaid reform efforts, such as those in the American Health Care Act (AHCA), promise more flexibility to states to take on these Medicaid cost challenges. They need, however, to be viewed with caution by state policymakers: addressing the problem should not involve leaky sandbags or throwing people into the … Read more
Apr 27, 2017 | Christopher F. Koller, President
We should expect competence as public policies are planned and implemented. Frequently, with state health policies, we get it: heroic responses by public workers reacting to environmental emergencies or outbreaks of infectious diseases; well-executed outreach and enrollment of large populations newly eligible for public programs; well-coordinated and persistently implemented efforts to tackle poor … Read more
Mar 30, 2017 | Christopher F. Koller, President
Finding dissenting opinions in a public health class on policy priorities for the US health system is like looking for stars in the night sky of a city—you know they exist in the bigger world, but they are nowhere to be found in the current setting. Universal health insurance? Heck yes! Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality? Fully funded! … Read more
Feb 27, 2017 | Christopher F. Koller, President
From 1997 to 2005, I ran Neighborhood Health Plan of Rhode Island (NHPRI), the state’s largest Medicaid managed care organization. We worked hard to help coordinate high-value health care and we thought we did pretty well. Recently compiled Medicaid spending data, however, points out that success for states may not mean success for the federal government, and might explain why the state-federal … Read more
Jan 25, 2017 | Christopher F. Koller, President
Dear Members of Congress: As both Houses continue to debate whether and how the Affordable Care Act (ACA) should be repealed and what it would be replaced with, let me suggest three considerations for discussion. 1) Health Insurance Matters. Your primary goal should be to get as many people covered as possible. That coverage should give Americans assurance that if they get sick they will … Read more
Dec 22, 2016 | Christopher F. Koller, President
In the aftermath of the November elections, we at the Fund had a chance to speak in person to over 125 state health policy leaders as we held meetings of our Reforming States Group (RSG). With all the talk of “increased state flexibility” in federal health policy, were state leaders relishing the prospect of freedom from the shackles of restrictive federal standards—and eager to innovate … Read more
Nov 28, 2016 | Christopher F. Koller, President
Congress is preparing to debate the future of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) yet again. While “repeal and replace” may take longer than was promised on the election trail, with single party control of both Congress and the White House, changes to the ACA appear inevitable. As they sort through particular policy proposals, lawmakers should take into highest account the concerns of those most … Read more
Oct 26, 2016 | Christopher F. Koller, President
CO-AUTHORED WITH LISA DULSKY WATKINS The release on October 17, 2016 of 2015 Shared Savings and Quality Results for year two of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation’s (CMMI) Comprehensive Primary Care (CPC) Initiative marked another milestone in efforts to align payers and transform primary care. Observers looking for an airtight identification of the right mix of payment, … Read more
Sep 21, 2016 | Christopher F. Koller, President
What does it take to have stable, competitive health insurance markets? I was recently asked this question by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee for a hearing on state and federal insurance marketplaces, 2017 insurance premiums, and insurer competition. As the nation’s first health insurance commissioner, serving in Rhode Island (RI) for eight years during the … Read more
Aug 22, 2016 | Christopher F. Koller, President
Ricky may have been on the edge of losing control, but he was still teaching me some health policy lessons. Word was out among his friends that Ricky was drinking again, and my cousin, who has been friends with him for 35 years, had flown in to see what was going on and how she could help. He had driven into town, and they had been hanging out all day. Now we were all out for an evening stroll. … Read more
by Christopher Koller | President, Milbank Memorial Fund
For more blog posts by Milbank staff and guest authors, read: The Milbank Blog
The Milbank Memorial Fund is an endowed operating foundation that works to improve the health of populations by connecting leaders and decision makers with the best available evidence and experience.
Learn more
