The Fund supports networks of state health policy decision makers to help identify, inspire, and inform policy leaders.
A bipartisan group of state health policymakers from both the executive and legislative branches who are focused on improving population health.
Supporting networks of state officials, advocates, and others aiming to invest in and transform primary care.
Advancing state-based efforts to make health care more affordable for residents, employers, and states.
The Milbank Memorial Fund supports two state leadership programs for legislative and executive branch state government officials committed to improving population health.
A leadership development program for early and mid-career state government officials who are committed to improving the health of all people in their communities.
A leadership program for senior state government officials who are committed to improving population health.
The Fund focuses on creating an affordable health care system built on strong primary care and partnerships that improve health outcomes for all.
Improving state leaders ability to enact and implement evidence-based health policies.
Advancing policies that create a more prevention- and primary care-oriented health system.
Improving population health through policies that contain health care cost growth.
Our state health policy resources provide relevant data analysis and best practices.
The Fund publishes reports, issues briefs, and case studies on state health policy issues.
Short takes on health policy issues from Milbank staff and guest authors.
Insights from Milbank President Debra Lubar on state health policymaking.
Reported articles and Q&As on timely health policy issues, as well as foundation updates.
Upcoming and past Milbank Memorial Fund and Milbank Quarterly webinars featuring state health policymakers and researchers.
Updates and expert contact information for reporters.
The Milbank Memorial Fund is a private foundation that works to improve population health and health equity.
Publication Topic
News Article
June 2026
In a new Health Affairs Forefront article, Michael Bailit, January Angeles, and Rachel Block show how states with health care cost growth targets… More
Blog Post
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
Publication
November 2025 Jessica Mar, Caitlin Otter, Michael Bailit,
Over the last decade, high and rising health care costs have squeezed patients’ wallets, strained local economies, and consumed a growing share of state budgets. In response, states have increasingly recognized the urgency of addressing unsustainable health care cost growth through innovative cost containment strategies More
Event
November 2025
Join us for a webinar to explore how states can garner compelling data insights from their All-Payers Claims Database (APCD) to inform health care affordability initiatives. More
October 2025 Erin Taylor, Matthew Reynolds,
This post describes ways states can safeguard and promote health equity alongside their efforts to make health care more affordable, particularly for those who bear the greatest burden of high and rising health care costs. The post identifies four overarching approaches states can take. More
October 2025 Thom Walsh,
Our experience in Vermont highlights both the strengths and the limitations of evaluating efficiency using standard measures of expenses and revenue. More
October 2025
This webinar described how states can focus their commercial market affordability efforts to impact highly resourced hospitals and health systems without endangering hospitals that would struggle to implement such policies. More
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
September 2025 Nathan Hostert, Andrew M. Ryan,
A recent study finds that Rhode Island’s affordability standards, which apply only to the fully insured market, have led to a 9% relative reduction in hospital prices across the entire commercial market. More
September 2025
The third annual analysis of spending growth trends across cost growth target states finds all five exceeded their targets. More