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 focuses on creating an affordable health care system built on strong primary care and partnerships that improve health outcomes for all.
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 a foundation that works to improve population health and health equity.
Publication Topic
Blog Post
August 2026 Michelle Munroe, Peter Johnson,
More than 2.3 million women of reproductive age live in maternity care deserts — counties with no hospitals offering obstetric care and no OB-GYN or certified nurse-midwife in practice. More
Publication
April 2026 Mary Louise Gilburg, Morgan McDonald,
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. More
March 2026 Margaret Koller, Joe Brecht,
Which pregnant women are most likely to rely on emergency department care, and how can they be better served? How did COVID-19 affect birth outcomes, and what would support improvements in future infectious disease outbreaks? These and other questions can be answered with existing state data when these data are integrated. More
News Article
January 2026 Morgan McDonald,
Yesterday, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced changes to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) childhood immunization recommendations, reducing the number of recommended vaccinations from 17 to 11 More
November 2025 Eva H. Allen, Jennifer M. Haley,
In 2024, there were 18.7 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births, with Black and Native women at significantly higher risk of maternal mortality. Medicaid is at the forefront of addressing the US maternal health crisis given that it covers 4 in 10 births nationwide, nearly two-thirds of births to Black women, and more than one-quarter of births to Native women. More
June 2025 Lauren Christiansen-Lindquist,
The health and well-being of all Americans — but especially women and babies — relies on timely and accurate data. Pregnancy and early childhood are particularly vulnerable periods that require careful monitoring, support, and response. The more up-to-date information we have, the better chance we have of preventing unnecessary deaths, building healthy families, and setting children up for success. Yet, US Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy’s changes to the agency eliminated the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Division of Reproductive Health, among other divisions, almost entirely. More
March 2025 Sofia Espinosa, Mary Louise Gilburg, Morgan McDonald,
In collaboration with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Milbank Memorial Fund convened the second of two virtual meetings in support of the multi-state Secretary’s Postpartum Maternal Health Collaborative. More
February 2025 Morgan McDonald,
In the spring of 2021, my favorite T-shirt to wear on the soccer sidelines sported an image of Dolly Parton singing “Vaccine, vaccine, vaccine, vacceeeeeene” to the tune of “Jolene.” Parton herself sang the rewritten lyrics repeatedly urging Tennesseans to accept the COVID-19 vaccine. It prompted countless conversations about how the vaccine was made, where people could get it, and how safe it was. As a state public health official, my colleagues and I were rejoicing at how quickly the Trump administration had indeed delivered on a several vaccine options less than a year into the pandemic. More
October 2024 Sofia Espinosa, Mary Louise Gilburg, Morgan McDonald,
In this briefing, authors of the Commonwealth Fund’s Women’s Health Scorecard provided key findings and state policymakers from Arkansas, Mississippi and New Jersey offered discussed state strategies to increase reproductive health care access and improve maternal health outcomes. More
September 2024 Mary Louise Gilburg, Morgan McDonald, Erin E. Sullivan,
The closures of rural hospitals and obstetric services has created an urgent need for innovative approaches to maintaining high-quality obstetrics… More
