Milbank Memorial Fund & The Milbank Quarterly
@milbankfund.bsky.social
The Milbank Memorial Fund is a private foundation that works to improve population health and health equity by collaborating with leaders and decision makers. We publish The Milbank Quarterly, a journal of population health and health policy.
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-...
In a new HA Forefront article, Michael Bailit & January Angeles of @bailithealth.bsky.social & Rachel Block show how states w/ health care cost growth targets have built the data infrastructure, analytical capacity, and accountability mechanisms needed to understand where spending is growing and why
States Are Exceeding Their Health Care Cost Growth Targets. What Does It Mean? | Health Affairs Forefront
That most states have exceeded their cost growth targets is not evidence that the targets have failed—it is evidence that complementary policies are needed to address the cost drivers that the target ...
healthaffairs.org
You've heard of Big Tobacco and Big Business but what about Big Wellness? @karremannancy.bsky.social and @spidermaani.bsky.social are co-authors of a recent @milbankfund.bsky.social article exploring wellness as a burgeoning industry. 🎧 podcast.publichealth.jhu.edu/the-rise-of-...
Neighborhood Nursing is a care model that offers universal access to health care + social services in Baltimore neighborhoods that benefit the entire community. But what’s the best way to pay for such a program? A new post by authors at @hopkinsnursing.bsky.social explores potential payment pathways
Sustaining Universal, Preventive-Centered Care Through Neighborhood Nursing | Milbank Memorial Fund
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-ce...
milbank.org
In a new Health Affairs Forefront article, Michael Bailit, January Angeles & Rachel Block show how several states with health care cost growth targets are leveraging their data to move toward bold approaches to constrain spending growth. www.healthaffairs.org/content/fore...
States Are Exceeding Their Health Care Cost Growth Targets. What Does It Mean? | Health Affairs Forefront
That most states have exceeded their cost growth targets is not evidence that the targets have failed—it is evidence that complementary policies are needed to address the cost drivers that the target ...
healthaffairs.org
It was a great pleasure to be invited on to the @publichealthpod.bsky.social with @karremannancy.bsky.social to discuss our recent paper in @milbankfund.bsky.social on the wellness industry as a commercial determinant of health @lhgp.bsky.social!
Public Health On Call Podcast@publichealthpod.bsky.social · 2mo agoThe wellness industry covers everything from fitness to biohacking, and it’s backed by powerful players. @karremannancy.bsky.social and @spidermaani.bsky.social discuss their recent paper in @milbankfund.bsky.social on "Big Wellness". 🎧 podcast.publichealth.jhu.edu/the-rise-of-...
Working-age mortality is rising and where you live may matter. Join a Milbank Quarterly webinar on the State Policies and Politics Database State Policy Index, a tool for examining how state policies shape mortality trends.
Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: Milbank Quarterly Webinar: Using the New US State Policy Index for Population Health Research. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email abou...
Working-age mortality rates are rising and vary widely by state. A growing body of evidence suggests that polarized state policy environments may contribute to these trends. Join us for a Milbank Quar...
us02web.zoom.us
Did liberal public health scholars like me fail to understand the meanings of guns and safety in conservative communities? My latest, @milbankfund.bsky.social Read the article at: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Thrilled to be included in the special issue of @milbankfund.bsky.social on “What Can State Policymakers Do to Meet the Challenges” of Disease Burden and Life Expectancy in the states. My thoughts on rural health policy are here: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Rural Health at a Crossroads: How Policymakers Have Failed Rural America and What Can Be Done for a Healthier Tomorrow
Policy Points Rural communities have more limited access to medical care and worse health outcomes. Existing federal and state policies largely fall short in addressing rural access disparities. ...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
The wellness industry covers everything from fitness to biohacking, and it’s backed by powerful players. @karremannancy.bsky.social and @spidermaani.bsky.social discuss their recent paper in @milbankfund.bsky.social on "Big Wellness". 🎧 podcast.publichealth.jhu.edu/the-rise-of-...
In a new Opinion, Lawrence Gostin contrasts the actions of WHO leadership with that of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to contain two extremely rare outbreaks: Andes hantavirus on the cruise ship MV Hondius, and Bundibugyo ebolavirus in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Mother Nature is Screaming: Two Viral Spillovers – Ebola and Hantavirus Emergencies – Expose our Vulnerabilities | Milbank Memorial Fund
When I arrived in Geneva for the World Health Assembly in late May, the World Health Organization (WHO) was scrambling to contain two extremely rare
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In a new post on the NYC Health Department’s Lincoln Detox Center Healing ARC project, Milbank Fellow Michelle Morse and Robert Rock discuss the importance of truth and reconciliation work and of “community as cure.”
Addressing the Opioid Epidemic in the Bronx Through New Forms of Accountability | Milbank Memorial Fund
When studying heat maps produced by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Department, and digging into the endless tables of data
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In a new Q&A and video with Milbank’s Morgan McDonald, Jeffrey Lunardi —then interim Medicaid director at Virginia’s Department of Medical Assistance Services (Cardinal Care) — shares practical lessons on prioritization, nonpartisan leadership, and agency stability during a gubernatorial handoff.
Managing Medicaid Through a Gubernatorial Transition: A Q&A with Jeff Lunardi | Milbank Memorial Fund
News article: In this edited Q&A and video with Milbank’s Morgan McDonald, MD, Jeff Lunardi—then interim Medicaid director at Virginia’s Department of Medical Assistance Services (Cardinal Care)—share...
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The Hondius Outbreak Shows What Happens When the CDC Retreats from the World JUST OUT @milbankfund.bsky.social www.milbank.org/quarterly/op...
The Hondius Outbreak Shows What Happens When the CDC Retreats from the World | Milbank Memorial Fund
For more than three decades, I have worked alongside the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) during many of the world’s most consequential biological threats—from the containment of SARS-...
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Each year, 280k older Americans experience the “Medicare Cliff” when they turn 65 and become eligible for Medicare but lose Medicaid coverage. A new article finds that permanent loss of Medicaid was associated with worse physical/mental health, higher mortality & out-of-pocket medical spending.
Long-Term Changes in Health Care Use and Outcomes Among Groups Maintaining Versus Losing Medicaid Upon Medicare Enrollment | Milbank Quarterly
About 280,000 older adults experience the “Medicare Cliff” each year, becoming eligible for Medicare and losing Medicaid coverage when they turn age 65 years due to discontinuities in financial eligib...
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Last spring Milbank President Debra Lubar left CDC following mass layoffs and a deluge of executive orders and DOGE directives. In a new post, she proposes that agencies take one lesson from that period to heart: that government can act fast to craft a workforce that fits what communities need now.
A Year After CDC, It’s Still About the People | Milbank Memorial Fund
One year ago in April, I walked off CDC’s campus for the last time, after spending over 20 years in the agency.
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A new Perspective analyzes the impact of four past large public coverage “contractions”: Reagan-era Medicaid cuts, the 2005 TennCare disenrollment, 2019 Arkansas work requirements, and the Medicaid “unwinding” following the temporary pandemic expansions to estimate the impacts of the OBBBA.
What Happens When Coverage Is Cut? Looking Backward and Forward From the One Big Beautiful Bill | Milbank Quarterly
The so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed into law by President Trump on July 4, 2025 will cut $1 trillion from federal health care programs over the coming decade and cause 10 million individua...
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In a new Opinion, David Rosner of Columbia University describes how industries have historically attempted to manipulate science in ways that harm public health. He calls for awareness and vigilance among researchers & policymakers about the ways science can be manipulated by corporate interests.
Manipulating Science, Manipulating Us | Milbank Memorial Fund
Four decades ago, I and Gerald Markowitz published an article in the American Journal of Public Health that attracted a fair amount of attention. The article was about the history of the introduction ...
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In a new Opinion, @drjoshs.bsky.social argues that while the Data Quality Act was intended to slow federal regulation of industry, the Act could also serve as a tool for the public health and scientific communities to challenge federal policies that are based on insufficient/misleading information.
Learning to Love the Data Quality Act | Milbank Memorial Fund
At the very end of the Clinton Administration, Republican Congresswoman JoAnne Emerson inserted a two-paragraph provision into the 2001 Treasury and General Government Appropriations Act. These paragr...
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Excited to share new work out this week in @milbankfund.bsky.social on Medicaid estate recovery, where I find the implementation of estate recovery is associated with decreases in home equity and Medicaid enrollment among select groups, especially unmarried, Black, white, and those 75+.
The Association of Medicaid Estate Recovery with Homeownership, Home Equity, and Medicaid Enrollment
Policy Points This study examines the association between the implementation of Medicaid estate recovery and homeownership, home equity, and Medicaid enrollment among low-income adults. Estate re...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
The Health Plan of San Mateo has a 5-year, $60M Primary Care Investment Strategy that aims to better allocate resources, improve population health, support their workforce, and enhance the care experience. Find out how they are working with their provider network to implement this innovative model.
Revitalizing Primary Care: Health Plan of San Mateo’s Investment Strategy | Milbank Memorial Fund
Abstract Health systems that invest in primary care have better and more equitable health outcomes. Yet primary care faces a crisis (characterized by
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CMS’ LEAD accountable care model includes a novel opportunity for states seeking to advance Medicare-Medicaid integration for people in Original Medicare. This Policy Cheat Sheet outlines considerations for Medicaid programs exploring whether to apply: bit.ly/4vA3n3C
Aligning Medicare and Medicaid Incentives Through Accountable Care: What States Need to Know About CMS’ LEAD Model - Center for Health Care Strategies
This Policy Cheat Sheet highlights key features of the LEAD model and outlines initial considerations for state policymakers as they explore whether this opportunity could support their goals for Medi...
bit.ly
States are increasingly using preemption to limit local authority across social policy domains. In a new Milbank Quarterly article, author examined the association of state preemption of local minimum wage and rent control laws with county-level childhood poverty and low birthweight.
Preemption and Generational Health Equity: The Role of Forced Inaction in Shaping Outcomes | Milbank Quarterly
Racial disparities—unequal outcomes between racial groups—persist in the United States, particularly with respect to health and economic outcomes. There has been increased focus on the ways in which u...
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