Improving population health and health equity by connecting leaders with experience and sound evidence

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Improving population health and health equity by connecting leaders with experience and sound evidence

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The Latest from The Milbank Memorial Fund

  1. Advancing State-Based Health Reform through the NC State Transformation Collaborative: A Multistakeholder Initiative in Action

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  2. State Health Care Cost Growth Targets: Moving from Aspiration to Evidence to Action

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  3. Standardized Health Spending Analytic Definitions and Methods: Cross-State Collaboration Leads to Stronger Results

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  4. State Approaches to Addressing Hospital Costs: Virtual Convening of Milbank State Leadership Network Recap

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  5. Federal Health Data Pauses and Staff Cuts Will Harm American Mothers and Babies 

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  6. Health Care Affordability: Definitions and Options for States to Track Progress 

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Latest Milbank Quarterly Issue Released:  March 2025

  1. Early View Perspective

    National Analysis of the Requirements and Implementation of State Prescription Drug Price Transparency Laws

    By:  Hannah Rahim Aaron S. Kesselheim

    Prescription drug prices in the United States are substantially higher than in other high-income countries, with US prices reported to be an average of 2.78 times those of other countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.1 In response to these high prices, along with an opaque supply chain that can lead to substantial discrepancies in prices across different payors, states have passed drug price transparency laws that require manufacturers to disclose information on drug prices. More

  2. Early View Perspective

    A Framework for Assessing the Permissibility of Academic Leaders’ Outside Activities

    By:  MATTHEW S. McCOY MARTHA E. GAINES STEVEN JOFFE Genevieve Pham-Kanter EMILY A. LARGENT Bernard Lo HOLLY FERNANDEZ LYNCH ALLISON M. WHELAN Michelle M. Mello

    Leaders at many of the country’s top academic medical centers earned—in addition to their institutional salaries—hundreds of thousands of dollars a year as directors of pharmaceutical and device companies. Critics have urged academic institutions to rethink conflict of interest policies governing leaders’ outside activities, which are understood to pose not only individual conflicts for leaders themselves but also institutional conflicts for their academic employers. More

  3. Early View Perspective

    Stemming the Tide of the US Overdose Crisis: How Can We Leverage the Power of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence?

    By:  Magdalena Cerdá DANIEL B. NEILL ELLICOTT C. MATTHAY JOHNATHAN A. JENKINS BRANDON D. L. MARSHALL Katherine Keyes

    People in the United States are dying at record numbers from overdose. Overdose deaths increased from fewer than 17,000 deaths in 1999 to an estimated 100,000 deaths approximately 25 years after, with a peak of almost 108,000 deaths in 2022. Racial/ethnic minoritized groups are now particularly affected: in 2023, the highest rates of overdose were among non-Hispanic Black and American Indian/Alaska Native Americans. Although overdoses increasingly involve both opioids and stimulants, opioids contribute to over three-quarters of all overdose deaths, primarily driven by illegally manufactured synthetic opioids like fentanyl. More

  4. Early View Original Scholarship

    US State Policies Regarding Social Media: Do Policies Match the Evidence?

    By:  Marco Thimm-Kaiser Katherine Keyes

    The potential adverse effects of social media use for adolescents have received substantial attention. In response, a growing number of state-level social media regulations are emerging in the United States. These policy interventions are being implemented in the context of mixed scientific evidence, forcing policymakers to weigh the need for proactive regulation against the limitations of extant research. We explore policymakers’ publicly stated rationales for social media regulations and contextualize their claims within extant scientific literature. More

  5. Early View Original Scholarship

    Longitudinal Associations From US State/Local Police and Social Service Expenditures to Suicides and Police-Perpetrated Killings Between Black and White Residents

    By:  Devin English Ty A. Robinson Lori S. Hoggard Felix M. Muchomba Sharifa Z. Williams Joel C. Cantor Paul R. Duberstein Brett M. Millar

    Reducing police expenditures and increasing housing expenditures may decrease Black–White inequities in years of potential life lost to suicide and police-perpetrated killing. More

  6. Early View Original Scholarship

    Facilitators of, Barriers to, and Innovations in the Implementation of the Trauma Recovery Center Model for Underserved Victims of Violent Crime in Los Angeles County

    By:  Annette M. Dekker Adrian Yen Andrea Larco Canizalez Yesenia Perez David Salazar Bita Ghafoori Dorit Saberi Breena R. Taira

    The Trauma Recovery Center (TRC) model brings comprehensive care to underserved victims of crime, with improvements in PTSD symptoms and quality of life. Funding concerns were the central limitation in model implementation according to TRC staff. More

The Milbank Quarterly Opinion

Medicaid Cuts Are Undemocratic and Not What the American People Want

Americans from across the political spectrum oppose cuts to Medicaid, believe that the program is effective, and are willing to take steps to defend Medicaid.  More

Rethinking Affordability: When Insurance Fails the Affordability Test

Millions of Americans possess insurance cards yet hesitate to use them. Escalating premiums, deductibles, and out-of-pocket expenses now impact not only low-income families but nearly everyone except the wealthiest. Annual out-of-pocket costs for a family of four now exceed $20,000—enough to buy a new car each year. These substantial expenses compel families to skip preventive services and essential medical care. The notion that “some coverage is better than none” falters when cost-sharing deters care and heightens financial risk.  More
Thom Walsh

Thom Walsh

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The First 100 Days of the Trump Presidency

In a radio address on July 24, 1933, Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) coined the first “hundred days” as a measure of presidential effectiveness.…  More

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State Networks and Leadership Programs

  • Milbank State Leadership Network

    The Milbank State Leadership Network is a bipartisan group of state health policy leaders from both the executive and legislative branches.

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  • Emerging Leaders Program

    The Emerging Leaders Program seeks to develop practical, hands-on leadership skills in future senior executive and legislative officials.

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  • Milbank Fellows Program

    The Milbank Fellows Program is a leadership program for executive branch and senior legislative state government leaders committed to improving population health.

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