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 Fund identifies and shares policy ideas and analysis to advance state health leadership, strong primary care, and sustainable health care costs.
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 is a foundation that works to improve population health and health equity.
Policy Report Milbank State Leadership Network State Health Policy Leadership
June 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
Child Health
June 2026 Catherine Falconer, Michelle Shankar, Beth D. Marshall, Sara B. Johnson, Megan M. Tschudy, Elliott Attisha, Josh Sharfstein,
Chronic absence, defined as missing more than 10% of time in school, has risen sharply in the United States following the COVID-19 pandemic and now affects more than one in four students. More
Fact Sheet
June 2026
The criminal justice system’s influence on health includes not only direct physical harm, but also chronic stress, mental health crises, infectious disease transmission, and the erosion of community social capital. More
June 2026 Alan B. Cohen,
In this issue of the Quarterly, readers will find four Perspectives on varied topics, such as spending on primary care, coverage contractions under the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” the political economy of wellness, and problems associated with the commodification of health care. More
Population Health State Health Policy
June 2026 Pauline J. Lapin, Laurie McWright,
Federal, state, and local governments have increasingly focused on innovation, hiring Chief Innovation or Technology Officers to find solutions to improve the delivery of benefits and services and to address unresolved health care issues. More
June 17, 2025 — Lashawn Richburg-Hayes, PhD, an expert in education policy, has been elected chair of the Board of Directors of the Milbank… More
Health Care Affordability
In a new Health Affairs Forefront article, Michael Bailit, January Angeles, and Rachel Block show how states with health care cost growth targets… More
Primary Care Transformation
June 2026 André Nogueira, Natalia Barolín, Sarah Szanton,
The fragmented multi-payer system in the United States creates powerful disincentives against the evidence-based interventions most likely to improve health and control costs: universal, prevention-centered care delivered where people live, work, and gather. More
June 2026 Mary Louise Gilburg,
Wellness is a trillion-dollar global industry that affects health and well-being in a variety of ways. Milbank Quarterly authors Nancy Karreman, PhD… More
Reproductive Health State Health Policy
June 2026 Alina Salganicoff, Ivette Gomez, Usha Ranji,
Access to sexual and reproductive health care varies widely by geography, and state-level policies play a major role in establishing the contours that govern the coverage, provision, availability, and costs of services. More
