The Milbank Memorial Fund is an endowed operating foundation that publishes The Milbank Quarterly, commissions projects, and convenes state health policy decision makers on issues they identify as important to population health.
We focus on a number of topic areas identified by state health policy leaders as important to population health.
The Center for Evidence-based Policy at Oregon Health & Science University is a national leader in evidence-based decision making and policy design.
Keep up with news and updates from the Milbank Memorial Fund. Get the latest from thought leaders, including Christopher F. Koller, president of the Fund.
We publish The Milbank Quarterly, as well as reports, issues briefs, and case studies on topics important to population health.
Jan 17, 2019
A certificate of public advantage (COPA) is a tool used by states to permit and oversee hospital mergers that create monopoly powers. A few months ago, we published a paper about the use of a COPA in Tennessee and Virginia. But what happens when a COPA is repealed? This issue brief looks at the COPA law in North Carolina that was enacted in 1993 and repealed in 2015. It provides a cautionary tale for other states considering COPAs. Read more
Sep 26, 2018
How are states responding to the growing trend of hospital system mergers? Some states have responded by issuing certificates of public advantage (COPAs), a legal mechanism through which they can approve mergers that reduce or eliminate competition in return for commitments to make public benefit investments and control health care cost growth. In effect, a COPA creates a state-monitored monopoly—or a public utility model of health care delivery. This report describes the experience of Tennessee and Virginia. Read more
Sep 17, 2018
These case studies use six diverse examples of science to policy translation generated by Robert Wood Johnson Health & Society Scholars in the HSS program from 2003 to 2016. Because the HSS program was discontinued in 2017, the Milbank Memorial Fund published these case studies in the hope that many audiences, including students, would use them to learn about the connection between research, decision making, and policy. Read more
Aug 13, 2018
Patient-centered medical homes (PCMHs) and accountable care organizations (ACOs) were often considered to be competing models for reforming health care delivery. Not now. It’s increasingly apparent that one helps the other. That’s the main finding from the Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative 2018 evidence report, the first study of its kind to look at how the role of advanced primary care, such as the PCMH, may contribute to the success or failure of ACOs. Read more
Jul 19, 2018
In Chicago, they are preventing lead poisoning in young children. In Chatham County, Georgia, they are building a continuity of care system for jail inmates, and in Washington State, they are using multiple data sets to coordinate care for dual eligibles. Meet the winners of the inaugural Milbank Memorial Fund and AcademyHealth State and Local Innovation Prize. Read more
Jul 11, 2018
As the US population ages, the demand for long-term care options has grown. Special focus has been on Medicaid programs, which pay for most long-term services and supports (LTSS) in this country. But as public policy has shifted LTSS from institutional settings to home- and community-based settings, new questions arise for policymakers who want to know how Medicaid agencies measure the quality of … Read more
May 23, 2018
Providers, payers, and state policymakers are moving to implement behavioral health integration (BHI) models as evidence of their effectiveness builds. But many states face an obstacle—the lack of a health care workforce that has the legal authority, training, and skills necessary to practice in these new models. How can states accelerate the development of a BHI workforce? Read more
Apr 26, 2018
Last year’s “repeal and replace” fight in Congress underscored how deep—and deeply confusing—disagreements over health care policy can be. Author David K. Jones traveled to Colorado and Kansas to find out what Republican and Democrat legislators were concerned about now when it comes to health reform. What does the bipartisan conversation look like in these states? Read more
Mar 30, 2018
This report summarizes an October 2017 meeting held by Trust for America’s Health, with support from the John A. Hartford Foundation, during which national, state, and local public health officials came together with aging experts, service providers and others to discuss how public health could contribute to an age-friendly society and improve the health and well-being of older Americans. The convening resulted in a Framework for an Age-Friendly Public Health System, which is described in the report. Read more
Feb 22, 2018
The opioid epidemic has spawned numerous state efforts to develop strategies to combat the crisis. While each strategy on its own may be worthwhile, effectively coordinating these efforts will likely prove to be the key to reducing the number of families and communities damaged by opioid abuse. Summarizing the critical experience of senior officials working on the crisis, this issue brief identifies the key ingredients in a coordinated state opioid strategy. Read more
