Today, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is posting the third annual release of the Medicare hospital utilization and payment data (both inpatient and outpatient) and the second annual release of the physician and other supplier utilization and payment data. The announcement was made at the annual Health Datapalooza conference in Washington, D.C. Sen. Chuck Grassley has pushed for the release of Medicare payment data. With Sen. Ron Wyden, Grassley previously introduced the Medicare Data Access for Transparency and Accountability Act (Medicare DATA Act) to make the Medicare claims database available to the public online at no cost. Since the introduction of the legislation, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has taken steps on its own to open the payment database to the public. Grassley made the following comment on today’s data release.
“Transparency draws in the public and invites analysis of policy and spending. More transparency has made a difference in accountability in the tax-exempt sector, and it does the same wherever it’s applied in health care. This trend is just what the taxpayers need.”
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