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.
The Milbank Memorial Fund has published reports since early in the last century. Today, the Fund publishes reports, issue briefs, and case studies, as well as reported articles and short-form States of Health and On Balance: Policies for Health posts. If you would like to suggest a publication idea within our key areas of state health leadership, primary care transformation, or health care affordability, please email Communications Director Christine Haran at charan@milbank.org. The Milbank Memorial Fund also publishes The Milbank Quarterly, an independent peer-reviewed journal of population health and health policy. Article submission instructions for the journal are available on the For Authors page.
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Policy Report
July 2026 Alida Austin, Katie M. Huber, Brianna Van Stekelenburg, Kody H. Kinsley, Rebecca G. Whitaker,
North Carolina’s Healthy Opportunities Pilots (HOP) program, which was paused in July 2025 due to state funding constraints, tested whether providing evidence-based services to address upstream drivers of health for eligible Medicaid members could improve health outcomes, reduce costs, and address disparities in three predominantly rural regions of the state. More
July 2026 K. John McConnell, Hyunjee Kim, STEPHAN R. LINDNER, Jane M. Zhu, David DiGiuseppe, Hayden Rooke-Ley,
As states brace for federal funding cuts and potentially large disenrollments in Medicaid, this report assesses the extent to which Medicaid managed care delivers value across its core functions: reducing financial risk for states; utilization management; network formation; care management; quality improvement; and paying for claims. More
July 2026 Lori Rodefeld, Raquel Davis, Erin Fraher, Heidi B. Miller, Shelby Rimmler-Cohen, Mary Alice Scott, Mukesh Adhikari, Emily M. Hawes,
Physician workforce shortages are limiting access to health care in nearly every state, with underserved and rural areas facing the greatest shortfalls. More
February 2026 Yalda Jabbarpour, Anuradha Jetty, Hoon Byun, Anam Siddiqi, Jeongyoung Park, Christopher F. Koller,
This analysis shows the tangible benefits of primary care access for people with chronic disease, including substantially lower hospitalization rates and health care spending. More
December 2025 Katie M. Huber, Samantha Repka, Sara Debab , Alida Austin, William K. Bleser, Rushina Cholera, Robert S. Saunders, Rebecca G. Whitaker,
Copublished with the Duke-Margolis Institute for Health Policy Abstract Recent federal policy reforms and funding reductions pose… More
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
October 2025 Emily Levi, Mary Jo Condon, Janice Bourgault,
This policy brief provides an overview of opportunities to improve state health care workforce data collection and analysis. More
October 2025 Jessica McCann, Margaret Flinter,
Decades of research confirms the safety, quality, and effectiveness of care provided by NPs, including care for complex patients, and their acceptance and approval by patients. Yet challenges remain in recruiting and retaining NPs in primary care. 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
July 2025 Alyssa Vangeli, Sarah Kinsler,
This brief provides an overview of existing state, federal, and private sector hospital efficiency measures; the advantages and limitations of those measures; potential modifications to existing measures; and options for how states can employ new or existing measures to better understand current hospital efficiency levels and incentivize improved efficiency. More