Publications

The Milbank Memorial Fund has published The Milbank Quarterly, a peer-reviewed journal of population health and health policy since 1923. It has also commissioned and published reports since early in the last century. Today, the Fund publishes reports, issue briefs, and case studies, as well as blogs, reported articles, and the View from Here. If you would like to suggest a publication idea within our key areas of state health leadership, primary care, or sustainable health care costs, please email Communications Director Christine Haran at charan@milbank.org.

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  • Issue Brief

    Beyond Public Reporting: Strengthening Accountability to States’ Cost Growth Targets and Leveraging Targets in Health Care Oversight

    June 2025 Grace Flaherty January Angeles

    This issue brief examines how three of these states —Massachusetts, Oregon, and California — have strengthened cost growth target accountability. It also highlights five states — California, Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, and Oregon — that have leveraged their cost growth targets in other health care oversight programs.   More

  • Issue Brief

    Advancing State-Based Health Reform through the NC State Transformation Collaborative: A Multistakeholder Initiative in Action

    June 2025 Brianna Van Stekelenburg Rebecca G. Whitaker Samantha Repka Emily Proehl Catie Armstrong Aparna Higgins Elizabeth Kasper Leonard A. Croom Janelle White Hilary Campbell Robert S. Saunders

    Many health providers are interested in making the shift to value-based payment (VBP), as these models can give greater flexibility in providing whole-person care, but administrative burden, variation in payer contracts, and a rapidly changing policy environment can impede their participation and success in these models. Streamlining the administration of payment models and adding supports like data sharing across payers and providers can make it easier for organizations by enabling more flexibility in care delivery, timely access to actionable information, and increased support for the health care workforce.  More

  • Issue Brief

    Foundational Values for Whole Person Health

    April 2025 Hoangmai H. Pham Wayne Jonas Mark Smith

    This brief identifies beliefs and common practices in health care culture that the authors suggest have hindered the spread of these models, as well as opportunities for the policymakers and influencers, payers, and clinicians to support whole-person health.   More

  • Issue Brief

    The Corporate Backdoor to Medicine: How MSOs Are Reshaping Physician Practices

    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

  • Issue Brief

    Report from the Frontlines of US Primary Care on the Impact of Recent Federal Policy Changes

    March 2025 Rebecca S. Etz Kevin Grumbach Larry A. Green Kurt C. Stange

    Primary care clinicians are a bellwether for the state of health care and health in the United States. With the Trump Administration moving at…  More

  • Issue Brief

    A Menu of State Choices for Addressing Unaffordable Growth in Hospital Commercial Prices

    January 2025 Anna Rothenberg Michael Bailit

    This brief outlines seven potential strategies to address high and rapidly rising hospital prices, accompanied by examples from states that have successfully implemented these approaches.  More

  • Issue Brief

    Pinpointing Performance: Improving Health Care Cost Growth Target Attribution Reporting for Providers

    December 2024 Grace Flaherty

    State health care cost growth target programs aim to control health care spending by setting an annual goal for the maximum rate at which health care costs should increase that is tied to income and/or economic growth. In addition to reporting spending growth at the state, insurer market, and individual insurer levels, states with cost growth target programs report spending growth for large provider organizations, such as health systems and hospitals. Reporting on provider organization cost growth is an important strategy for keeping providers accountable for constraining spending growth. However, accurately attributing spending to these large provider entities can be challenging.  More

  • Issue Brief

    Not Just Squeezing the Balloon: A Comprehensive Set of State Strategies for Addressing Health Care Cost

    October 2024 Elliott S. Fisher Christopher F. Koller Carrie H. Colla Alena Berube

    Abstract  Health care is increasingly unaffordable in the United States. While comprehensive, affordable health coverage for middle- and…  More

  • Issue Brief

    How Payment Caps Can Reduce Hospital Prices and Spending: Lessons from the Oregon State Employee Plan

    July 2024 Roslyn C. Murray Christopher M. Whaley Erin C. Fuse Brown Andrew M. Ryan

    Policy Points States grappling with high and rising health care spending can draw inspiration from the Oregon State Employee Plan’s hospital…  More

  • Issue Brief

    Defining the State Role in Primary Care Reform

    May 2024 Lauryn Walker Lisa Dulsky Watkins Christopher F. Koller

    States should consider six key activities to prioritize resources and use their authority most effectively.   More