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.
September 1994 (Volume 72)
Quarterly Article
Gerald N. Grob
Nov 5, 2024
Oct 30, 2024
Oct 23, 2024
Back to The Milbank Quarterly
It is generally recognized that mental health policy is shaped by the interaction of complex social, economic, intellectual, and medical variables. An often neglected, yet significant, factor, however, is the very structure of the American political system that was created by the adoption of the federal Constitution in 1789. The constitutional framework made intergovernmental relations-local, state, federal-important determinants in shaping and transforming social policy in general and mental health policy in particular. The division of power among three levels of government created incentives to shift responsibilities, which in turn changed and distorted coverage patterns, thereby inadvertently transforming both costs and policy goals. It is thus critical to take into account the ways in which America’s political structure mediates and recasts the context of mental health policy.
Author(s): Gerald N. Grob
Download the Article
Read on JSTOR
Volume 72, Issue 3 (pages 471–500) Published in 1994