About The Milbank Quarterly

Continuously published since 1923, The Milbank Quarterly features peer-reviewed original research, policy review, and analysis from academics, clinicians, and policymakers.

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Editor

Alan B. Cohen

Publisher

Christopher F. Koller

Managing Editor

Tara Strome

2-year Impact Factor: 6.6
Journal Citation Reports® 2022 Rankings: 3/87 (Health Policy & Services); 8/105 (Health Care Sciences & Services)
5-year Impact Factor: 8.964

The Latest from The Milbank Quarterly 

Special Issue–Mental Health and Substance Use Challenges Facing the United States: What Can State Policymakers Do?

This summer, The Milbank Quarterly will publish a special issue of articles that address state strategies to improve mental and behavioral health, including approaches to strengthening the behavioral health workforce, leveraging AI to address the overdose crisis, and much more. Individual articles are publishing on a rolling basis.

READ THE ARTICLES

  1. Early View Original Scholarship

    US State Policies Regarding Social Media: Do Policies Match the Evidence?

    By:  Marco Thimm-Kaiser Katherine Keyes

    The potential adverse effects of social media use for adolescents have received substantial attention. In response, a growing number of state-level social media regulations are emerging in the United States. These policy interventions are being implemented in the context of mixed scientific evidence, forcing policymakers to weigh the need for proactive regulation against the limitations of extant research. We explore policymakers’ publicly stated rationales for social media regulations and contextualize their claims within extant scientific literature. More

  2. Early View Original Scholarship

    Longitudinal Associations From US State/Local Police and Social Service Expenditures to Suicides and Police-Perpetrated Killings Between Black and White Residents

    By:  Devin English Ty A. Robinson Lori S. Hoggard Felix M. Muchomba Sharifa Z. Williams Joel C. Cantor Paul R. Duberstein Brett M. Millar

    Reducing police expenditures and increasing housing expenditures may decrease Black–White inequities in years of potential life lost to suicide and police-perpetrated killing. More

  3. Early View Original Scholarship

    Facilitators of, Barriers to, and Innovations in the Implementation of the Trauma Recovery Center Model for Underserved Victims of Violent Crime in Los Angeles County

    By:  Annette M. Dekker Adrian Yen Andrea Larco Canizalez Yesenia Perez David Salazar Bita Ghafoori Dorit Saberi Breena R. Taira

    The Trauma Recovery Center (TRC) model brings comprehensive care to underserved victims of crime, with improvements in PTSD symptoms and quality of life. Funding concerns were the central limitation in model implementation according to TRC staff. More

  4. Early View Original Scholarship

    State Health Care Cost Commissions: Their Priorities and How States’ Political Leanings, Commercial Hospital Prices, and Medicaid Spending Predict Their Establishment

    By:  Brent D. Fulton Daniel R. Arnold Jordan M. Wolf Richard M. Scheffler

    This study identifies states that have established health care cost commissions (HCCCs), examines state-level political and economic factors associated with their establishment, and reports which of these states have also enacted health care competition-related laws that further equip these commissions. More

  5. Early View Perspective

    A Policy and Regulatory Framework to Promote Care Delivery Redesign and Production Efficiency in Health Care Markets

    By:  Dennis P. Scanlon Jillian B. Harvey Cheryl L. Damberg Pratiksha Mahendra Bhagat Yunfeng Shi

    In this article, we discuss why reliance on transaction prices and market share alone is not sufficient for effective health policy development and regulatory enforcement in health care markets that are imperfectly competitive. We discuss the need to better measure the output produced by health care suppliers and to capture the costs of producing that output. More

  6. Early View Original Scholarship

    Who Enrolls in Coverage and Who Remains Uninsured? Medicaid Take-Up Before and After the Affordable Care Act and During Unwinding

    By:  Rebecca Brooks Smith Gabriella Aboulafia Benjamin D. Sommers

    From the pre- to post-ACA period, Medicaid take-up rates among eligible individuals increased, and these gains persisted during the beginning of the unwinding period, potentially reflecting increased outreach efforts under the Biden administration. However, areas of vulnerability remain among young adults, working adults, AI/AN individuals, and those in rural areas. More

  7. Early View Perspective

    Toward Monitoring and Addressing the Commercial Determinants of Health: Where Can We Go From Here?

    By:  Raquel Burgess Tanja Srebotnjak Christine Lin Lawrence Grierson Daniel C. Esty Yusuf Ransome Nicholas Freudenberg

    This article seeks to advance discussion on two key priorities related to the commercial determinants of health (CDH): 1) the development of mechanisms to measure and monitor the practices of commercial entities, and 2) the development of effective policy recommendations for addressing the CDH. More

  8. Early View Original Scholarship

    Strategies for and Barriers to Communicating About Health Equity in Challenging Times: Qualitative Interviews with Public Health Communicators

    By:  Sarah E. Gollust Kristina Medero Quin Mudry Nelson Ceron Ford Erika Franklin Fowler Jeff Niederdeppe Rebekah H. Nagler

    Public health communicators often discuss health equity–related concepts, but it is not clear what strategies they use or what resources can support them to overcome challenges they face. More

  9. Early View Perspective

    Medicaid’s Role in Addressing the Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Challenges of Its Members

    By:  Kate McEvoy Hannah Maniates

    Medicaid has both greatly advanced the scope and integration of mental health and substance use disorder services among payers and remains a work in progress with respect to scaling and funding these services across the country. More

  10. Early View Original Scholarship

    The Shadow Price of Uncertainty: Consequences of Unpredictable Insurance Coverage for Access, Care, and Financial Security

    By:  Mark Schlesinger Deepon Bhaumik

    Context: Health insurance reform in the United States has focused on expanding enrollment, a goal inhibited by complex insurance provisions. Research… More

  11. Early View Perspective

    Mapping Mental Health Across US States: The Role of Economic and Social Support Policies

    By:  Rachel Donnelly Mateo P. Farina

    Mental health (e.g., anxiety, depression) continues to be a major public health concern in the United States that impacts millions of individuals, their families, and communities. Approximately 21% of adults 18 years and older, or 55 million adults, reported symptoms of recent depression in 2022, demonstrating the wide reach of mental health challenges. More

  12. Early View Perspective

    Review of Emergent Financing Models for Mental Health Crisis Systems

    By:  Jonathan Purtle Amanda I Mauri David Frederick

    In this article, we provide an overview of emergent models for funding crisis systems in the United States and the policy and service contexts related to these models. Our review assesses the status of crisis system financing recommendations proposed by Hogan and Goldman proposed in 2020 and complements prior reports about financing crisis services. More

  13. Early View Perspective

    State Policy Strategies to Promote the Recruitment and Retention of the Behavioral Health Workforce

    By:  Briana S. Last Jane M. Zhu

    See all articles in the special issue, Mental Health and Substance Use Challenges Facing the United States: What Can State Policymakers Do? Access… More

  14. Early View Original Scholarship

    Reported Strategies by Medicaid Managed Care Organizations to Improve Access to Behavioral Health Services

    By:  Jane M. Zhu Ruth Rowland Inga Suneson Deborah J. Cohen K. John McConnell Daniel Polsky

    Behavioral health access gaps are well documented in Medicaid, in which managed care now covers most enrollees, and for which there are typically fewer options for going out-of-network for care. Despite the growing role of managed care organizations (MCOs) in financing and delivering behavioral health services, little is known about MCO levers that can improve access to care. More

  15. Early View Original Scholarship

    What Happened in Delaware Following a Statewide Contraceptive Initiative?

    By:  Constanza Hurtado-Acuna Michael S. Rendall

    Context: The 2015 to 2020 Delaware Contraceptive Access Now (DelCAN) initiative was motivated by Delaware’s having among the highest rates of… More

  16. Early View Original Scholarship

    Scaling an Evidence-Based Community Health Worker Program with Fidelity: Results and Lessons Learned

    By:  Molly Knowles Aditi Vasan Ziwei Pan Judith A. Long Shreya Kangovi

    Context: Community health worker (CHW) programs represent a key strategy for addressing social and structural drivers of health and have the… More

  17. Early View Original Scholarship

    Medicaid Expansion Among Nonelderly Adults and Cardiovascular Disease: Efficiency Vs. Equity

    By:  Luke E. Barry Sanjay Basu May Wang Roch A. Nianogo

    Context: Evidence suggests Medicaid expansion has improved cardiovascular disease (CVD) outcomes, especially among those of lower socioeconomic… More

  18. Early View Perspective

    The Long Arc of Substance Use Policy Innovation in Medicaid: Looking Back, Looking Forward

    By:  Brendan Saloner

    This Perspective examines the role of Medicaid in the innovation of substance use disorder (SUD) treatment. In 2023, an estimated 49 million Americans met criteria for an SUD and more than 100,000 people died of a drug overdose. Compared with the general population, people with SUD experience worse self-rated health, a higher burden of other chronic diseases, and more hospital care. More

Current Issue

  1. My MAHA “AH HA!” Moment

    Read More

  2. In the March 2025 Issue of the Quarterly: Population Health Imperiled

    Read More

  3. The Political Economy of the World Health Organization Model Lists of Essential Medicines

    Read More

  4. Centering Equity in Evidence-Informed Decision Making: Theoretical and Practical Considerations

    Read More

  5. Naming and Framing: Six Principles for Embedding Health Equity Language in Policy Research, Writing, and Practice

    Read More

  6. Innovative Insurance to Improve US Patient Access to Cell and Gene Therapy

    Read More

Read the Current Issue

The Milbank Quarterly Opinion

The First 100 Days of the Trump Presidency

In a radio address on July 24, 1933, Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) coined the first “hundred days” as a measure of presidential effectiveness.…  More

Tough Decisions for the Future of US Research Universities: Transparency and Shared Governance Are Critical

The Trump administration is unsettling universities with aggressive cuts to federal research funding, including a reduction of the National…  More

Who’s Affected by Medicaid Work Requirements? It’s Not Who You Think

Since the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Medicaid expansion passed in 2010, Medicaid work requirement proponents have sought to convince policymakers that…  More

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