The Fund supports networks of state health policy decision makers to help identify, inspire, and inform policy leaders.
The Milbank Memorial Fund supports two state leadership programs for legislative and executive branch state government officials committed to improving population health.
The Fund identifies and shares policy ideas and analysis to advance state health leadership, strong primary care, and sustainable health care costs.
Keep up with news and updates from the Milbank Memorial Fund. And read the latest posts from our staff and guest authors.
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 is a foundation that works to improve population health and health equity.
Publication Topic
Blog Post
May 2026 Justin Frazer,
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. More
March 2026 Shruthika Padhy, Christopher M. Whaley,
Driven mainly by high and variable prices, United States’ health care spending is among the highest in the world. Yet, higher prices make health care less affordable and are often not linked to higher quality. More
News Article
January 2026
Long concerned about the impact of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) on pharmaceutical prices, Milbank’s Emerging Leaders Program alumna Kim Chen developed and helped pass 2025 state budget legislation to create licensure for these entities. More
December 2025 Christopher F. Koller,
“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
Publication
September 2025 Sarah Kinsler,
This report describes how states can focus affordability efforts to impact highly resourced hospitals and health systems (the haves) without endangering those that would struggle to implement state commercial market affordability policies (the have-nots). It also provides options to help states identify hospitals within each group, using existing public analyses and state data where available. More
August 2025 Nathan Hostert,
In the first half of 2025, states enacted numerous laws to strengthen their health care markets. These new laws address several recurring policy issues affecting states across the country, including skyrocketing health care costs, increased consolidation in the healthcare sector, and the heightened penetration of private equity in health care systems. This brief highlights trends in state health policy across four major themes and identifies states that have made significant reforms in each of these areas this year. More
June 2025 Mary Louise Gilburg, Morgan McDonald,
The Milbank State Leadership Network hosted a virtual session for state legislators and legislative staff to discuss factors contributing to rising health care costs as well as opportunities for states to slow spending growth and make health care more affordable, with a particular focus on hospital costs. The briefing was hosted in partnership with Bailit Health, the technical assistance provider for the Peterson-Milbank Program for Sustainable Healthcare Costs. More
June 2025 Eric T. Roberts, Narda Ipakchi, Josh Kramer,
The US House of Representatives–passed tax bill includes a provision that would delay implementation of a federal regulation designed to reduce paperwork burdens that limit older adults’ access to benefits. More
Virtual Briefing
May 2025 Sarah-Hannah Herman,
The Milbank State Leadership Network hosted a virtual session for state legislators and legislative staff to discuss factors contributing to rising… More
April 2025 Hayden Rooke-Ley, Megha Reddy, Neil Mehta, Yashaswini Singh, Erin C. Fuse Brown,
Private equity firms, insurance companies, and other corporate entities are using MSOs to bypass state prohibitions on the corporate practice of medicine, allowing large corporations to functionally own medical practices and influence clinical care. More
