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.
Focus Area
Blog Post
May 2019 Rachel Block,
New research published by the RAND Corporation earlier this month compares hospital prices paid by private health plans with Medicare prices in 25 states. These new data shed light on hospital prices and point to some actions that states could take to help manage costs. More
News Article
March 2019
Oregon has been a leader in targeting the growth in overall health care costs. In 2012, the state adopted a unique approach to growth limits for the… More
February 2019
Rhode Island has a history of taking the lead when it comes to health care spending. Beginning in 2010, the state instituted health care… More
February 2019 Christopher F. Koller,
Health care costs comprise an expansive and poorly mapped forest. There are plenty of fearful features to the wilderness, including rising… More
Publication
January 2019 Erin C. Fuse Brown,
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 But what happens when a COPA is repealed? This issue brief looks at the COPA law in North Carolina that was enacted in 1993 and repealed in 2015.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. More
November 2018 Christopher F. Koller,
Dear Newly Elected Governor: Congratulations on your victory on November 6th and for assembling successful campaign messages that resonated with so… More
September 2018 Erin C. Fuse Brown,
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. More
August 2018
“You can’t manage what you can’t measure.” – Peter Drucker. States face growing challenges to manage and measure health care costs. By… More
June 2018 Christopher F. Koller,
Maryland—the land of crabs, the Chesapeake Bay, loyal Orioles fans, and a 1970s era hospital rate-setting scheme that nobody ever got around to unwinding—vaulted to the top of the interest list for pointy-headed health policy types in 2013 when officials renegotiated the terms of their agreement with Medicare. More
May 2018
Massachusetts isn’t the only state making progress when it comes to measuring health care costs. Delaware is also moving forward with its own… More
