A recent Milbank Quarterly article found that the Massachusetts Medicaid program improved maternal care quality when it intentionally & strategically incorporated maternal health-specific provisions into Medicaid ACO contracts — and provided resources for patient tracking & care coordination teams

How Medicaid Accountable Care Organizations Advance Maternal Health Care Quality: Drivers of Change and Challenges from the Perspective of ACO Leaders, Clinicians, and Care Coordinators | Milbank Quar...

In the wake of a US maternal health crisis, Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) may be a key opportunity to improve maternal health care.

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A recent open-access Milbank Quarterly article argues that state scope-of-practice regulations may function as structural determinants of maternal health by constraining the midwifery workforce and contributing to fragmented and delayed care that affects maternal health outcomes.

Certified Nurse-Midwife Practice Authority as a Structural Determinant of Maternal Health | Milbank Quarterly

Certified nurse-midwives (CNMs) provide evidence-based maternity care associated with improved birth outcomes, yet half of US states do not grant them independent practice authority. State scope-of-pr...

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Primary care clinicians have made significant changes to their practice since the Advisory Committee of Immunization Practices ACIPcrevised its adult and pediatric vaccine recommendations, according to new findings from a Larry A. Green Center Flash Survey of US primary care clinicians.

Holding the Line: Primary Care’s Response to Fragmented Immunization Guidance  | Milbank Memorial Fund

Primary care clinicians have made significant changes to their practice since the Advisory Committee of Immunization Practices revised its adult and pediatric vaccine recommendations, according to new...

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A new Milbank Quarterly guest Opinion explains how comparative global data on aging can illuminate the changes to social, public health, and economic policies that could promote healthier and more economically secure aging in the United States.

What the World Can Teach the United States about Aging | Milbank Memorial Fund

Populations around the world are aging, and fast. Here in the United States, not only is the population getting older, but it’s doing so in the shadow of

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On October 14, at 2 pm ET, join health leaders for a webinar about a new @milbankfund.bsky.social report with state policy recommendations on how to support the NP workforce in meeting primary care needs. ⬇️ www.milbank.org/publications...

A new open-access study compares US state life expectancies with those of other nations, finding that, in 2021, life expectancy in West Virginia & Mississippi resembled that of Bulgaria, Bangladesh, Azerbaijan, and Iraq and was lower than in very low-income countries such as North Korea and Syria.

US Life Expectancy and Increasing Mortality Rates: An Analysis of the Crisis | Milbank Quarterly

US life expectancy is shorter than in other high-income countries, and the gap has widened over time.

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In the absence of a national health workforce strategy, states like Missouri, North Carolina, and Wisconsin have developed state-level graduate medical education (GME) strategies to build a local primary care workforce.

Building a Robust Primary Care Workforce: Diffusing Lessons Across States  | Milbank Memorial Fund

In the absence of a national health workforce strategy in the United States, individual states, including Missouri, North Carolina, and Wisconsin, have developed and implemented state-level graduate m...

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We're delighted to share our new logo and visual identity. The new branding reflects Milbank’s work: connecting and inspiring health leaders and sharing trusted evidence to advance better health outcomes for all. Explore Milbank’s refreshed website: www.milbank.org

In a recent open-access article in The Milbank Quarterly, researchers at McGill University look at the impact of cannabis legalization on cannabis use, as well as the downstream effects on other types of substance use, to understand the implications for population-level morbidity and mortality.

Impacts of Global Cannabis Policy Changes on Substance Use: A Systematic Review of Quasi-Experimental Studies | Milbank Quarterly

Substantial changes in cannabis policies are occurring globally; however, the impacts of these reforms on cannabis use, as well as downstream effects on other substance use, remain unclear.

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New research from @milbankfund.bsky.social examines the relationship between the legalization of medicinal or recreational cannabis and patterns of alcohol, tobacco, and opioid use. Lead author of the study, Sarah Windle, details the findings 🎧 podcast.publichealth.jhu.edu/does-legaliz...

In a new Milbank Quarterly guest Opinion, @monahanna.bsky.social and Luke Shaefer, founders of Rx Kids — a community-wide maternal and infant cash prescription program — describe the "place-based targeted universalism” approach used in the program.

Rethinking Population Health Through Place-Based Targeted Universalism | Milbank Memorial Fund

Public health has become remarkably good at mapping geographic disparities in health. Color-coded maps of infant mortality, childhood lead exposure,

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A new States of Health post describes the primary credentialled types of midwives and the policy changes needed to address workforce barriers, including licensure gaps, reimbursement disparities, and restrictive scope of practice laws.

Policies Are Needed to Support an Essential Health Workforce: Midwives  | Milbank Memorial Fund

More than 2.3 million women of reproductive age live in maternity care deserts — counties with no hospitals offering obstetric care and no OB-GYN or certified nurse-midwife in practice.

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Since 2025, the USDA has granted waivers to 23 states to restrict the types of foods that can be purchased with SNAP benefits. In a new Milbank Quarterly guest Opinion, authors describe the lack of data for evaluating the dietary impact of such restrictions and other evaluation challenges.

SNAP Food Restrictions May Help or Hurt—But We Will Probably Never Know | Milbank Memorial Fund

It is important to rigorously assess whether SNAP restrictions on foods yield meaningful benefits to diet and health. Yet evaluation faces numerous challenges.

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A new States of Health post introduces a Data Dashboard using data from RAND Health to compare how OBBBA is projected to impact Medicaid funds by state. www.milbank.org/2026/08/stat...

State-Level Impacts of OBBBA Provisions: A Data Dashboard  | Milbank Memorial Fund

Using estimates from RAND Health, our new Data Dashboard shows at a high level how state Medicaid funds will be affected by changes in the One Big Beautiful Bill.

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In a new Opinion from The Milbank Quarterly, Andrew Anderson of the @johnshopkinssph.bsky.social calls for using a population-based public health surveillance approach to understand the reach of the behavioral health crisis system and identify opportunities to improve access and fit.

Measuring Whether Behavioral Health Crisis Systems Reach People in Need | Milbank Memorial Fund

Since passage of the American Rescue Plan Act in 2021, the United States has made significant investments in behavioral health crisis response systems,

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A new open-access Milbank Quarterly Perspective compares the health impact of US housing programs finding that public housing, which offers social networks and housing stability, has a greater positive impact on health than programs like housing choice vouchers.

Improving Population Health Through Housing Policy: Lessons From the Public Housing Program | Milbank Quarterly

Housing is a fundamental social determinant of health and is particularly amenable to policy intervention.

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A new Milbank Quarterly guest Opinion argues that GLP-1s have been so successful as an anti-obesity therapy because, like the industries that engender obesity/chronic disease, they operate within a structure that is profit-seeking, scalable, & reprograms individuals’ default decisions and behaviors.

Fighting Fire with Fire: GLP-1s and the Political Economy of Population Health | Milbank Memorial Fund

Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists have been adopted faster and more widely than any anti-obesity therapy prior.

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A open-access special issue Perspective examines how changes in federal health data infrastructure affect states’ capacity to advance data equity and offer lessons on data collection, systems, and community partnerships from California, Connecticut, and Oregon.

A New Playbook: State-Driven Solutions for Resilient Health Data | Milbank Quarterly

Health equity depends on data equity: the representation of communities in the data used to identify disparities, target interventions, and hold systems accountable.

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Over six decades, US policy for people living with intellectual and developmental disabilities and severe and persistent mental illness has shifted from institutionalization to community-based services. In a new article, @haroldpollack.bsky.social and coauthors examine what’s worked—and what hasn’t.

Opening the Door Wider to Community Support of People With Serious Mental Illnesses: What States Can Learn From the IDD Experience | Milbank Quarterly

Since the early 1960s, US policymakers have sought to assist persons living with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDDs) and persons living with severe and persistent mental illness (SPMI) ...

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~1.3M Americans with intellectual and developmental disabilities live with a caregiver who is 60+, and many outlive their primary caregivers. A new Opinion discusses how policymakers & clinicians must partner with families to support caregiver transition services. @haroldpollack.bsky.social

More than 1 Million Americans with an Intellectual and Developmental Disability Live with a Caregiver over the Age of 60 | Milbank Memorial Fund

For almost 40 years, Janice cared for Vincent, her son with a developmental disability, at their home in upstate New York.

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When Debra Lubar's daughter visited an urgent care center, she was treated with IV fluids, anti-nausea and anti-diarrheal drugs—and received a $3,000 bill. In her latest post, Lubar calls for government leadership to make health care more affordable, improving population health. bit.ly/45KOQq5

Look to Policy, Not Patients, to Keep Health Care Costs in Check  | Milbank Memorial Fund

In her latest post, Debra Lubar discusses how unexpected, large medical bills can upend finances for many families.

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Myself, Richard Frank and Sherry Glied in @milbankfund.bsky.social: Opening the Door Wider to Community Support of People With Serious Mental Illnesses: What States Can Learn From the IDD Experience. www.milbank.org/quarterly/ar...

Opening the Door Wider to Community Support of People With Serious Mental Illnesses: What States Can Learn From the IDD Experience | Milbank Quarterly

Since the early 1960s, US policymakers have sought to assist persons living with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDDs) and persons living with severe and persistent mental illness (SPMI) to live on a human scale with their clinical and service needs met in their communities.

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Emergency medical services must be available 24 hours/day, 7 days/week, 365 days/year — even if no calls come in.  Wyoming has a plan to sustain its EMS services, even in rural frontier areas, using both state and federal Rural Health Transformation Program funding.

Bake Sales Won’t Sustain Wyoming EMS, but a Few Reforms Might  | Milbank Memorial Fund

Emergency medical services (EMS) are basic lifesaving infrastructure for any community.

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The criminal legal system is a driver of poor health, for both those incarcerated and law enforcement. A new fact sheet from @milbankfund.bsky.social suggests policies to reverse these effects. www.milbank.org/publications...

Fact Sheet: Policies to Address Criminal Justice as a Driver of Poor Health | Milbank Memorial Fund

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…

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In an open-access Milbank Quarterly perspective researchers from @publichealthumd.bsky.social examine how racial equity impact assessments are characterized and used within a local legislative process.

Racial Equity Impact Assessments as Tools for Advancing Population Health and Equity in Local Policy | Milbank Quarterly

Racial equity impact assessments (REIAs) are used by local governments to integrate equity considerations into policymaking and decision-making processes by evaluating potential impacts of proposed le...

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A recent open access article by @umnsph.bsky.social researchers aims to clarify Congress’s original intentions for the 40B Drug Pricing Program legislation. The authors find that the current scope of the program exceeds the original intent as it now primarily benefits non-safety-net providers.

Stretching Scarce Authorizing Legislation as Far as Possible: A Legislative History of the 340B Drug Pricing Program | Milbank Quarterly

The 1992 340B Drug Pricing Program (“340B”) started as a narrowly focused program aimed at Public Health Service Act–funded clinics and public hospitals. Today 340B includes two-thirds of all nonprofi...

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The California Health Interview Survey can be a model for states to build health equity through data equity and overcome changes to federal health data infrastructure that have created a “data vacuum,” write @uclachpr.bsky.social researchers in the @milbankfund.bsky.social: bit.ly/4gjCH1Y

A New Playbook: State-Driven Solutions for Resilient Health Data | Milbank Quarterly

Health equity depends on data equity: the representation of communities in the data used to identify disparities, target interventions, and hold systems accountable.

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Join the Common Health Coalition and Milbank Memorial Fund next Thursday, July 9, at 2 pm ET, for a webinar about the health and economic impacts of extreme heat — and how to improve preparedness for heat emergencies. Register here: us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

More Illness, Greater Cost: Spotlight Brief on Heat Emergencies, released today by The Common Health Coalition & the Milbank Memorial Fund with @johnshopkinssph.bsky.social researchers, models the health and economic effects of a single heat wave in one state. www.milbank.org/publications...

A recent @milbankfund.bsky.social paper applies a commercial determinants of health lens to the booming wellness industry. @karremannancy.bsky.social and @spidermaani.bsky.social the positives of the wellness industry as well as their concerns 🎧 podcast.publichealth.jhu.edu/the-rise-of-...