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 blogs from our thought leaders, including Fund President Christopher F. Koller.
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.
June 2024 (Volume 102)
Quarterly Article
David A. Kindig
Yasmin Mohd Ariffin
Hannah Olson-Williams
September 2024
March 2024
Back to The Milbank Quarterly
Policy Points:
Context: Structural factors are important determinants of health. Because antistructuralism has been identified as a tenet of White evangelical theology, we explored if there is an association of the percentage of White evangelicals in a US county with two county health outcomes: premature mortality and percentage of fair/poor health.
Methods: Regression analysis was performed with data from 2022 County Health Rankings and the American Value Atlas from the Public Religion Research Institute.
Findings: Every percent of evangelicals in a county is associated with 4.01 more premature deaths per 100,000 population and 0.13% fair/poor health. After controlling for income, education, political ideology, and county school funding adequacy (a proxy for antistructuralism), the associations remain positive and significant.
Conclusions: We hope these findings could inform dialogue and critical analysis among individuals of evangelical faith, particularly fundamental and Pentecostal subsets, regarding a belief system that is inclusive of individual dimensions and health-promoting structural policies like school funding, Medicaid expansion, and antipoverty programs. These findings also demonstrate the importance of considering cultural factors like religion and political ideology in population health outcomes research.
