CMS updates Medicaid and CHIP Scorecard with new data

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has released new data in its Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program Scorecard to reflect information reported by states on beneficiary outcomes.

The Medicaid and CHIP Scorecard includes measures voluntarily reported by states and federally reported measures in three areas—state health system performance, state administrative accountability and federal administrative accountability.

Released for the first time last year, the scorecard is an attempt by the Trump administration at data transparency to ensure the Medicaid and CHIP programs—which provide health coverage to more than 72 million Americans at a cost of $558 billion annually—are held accountable.

“Everyone—whether you are a beneficiary, taxpayer or lawmaker—deserves to understand the performance of our nation’s largest health coverage programs and often the largest state expenses,” said CMS Administrator Seema Verma in a written statement.

“More states are voluntarily reporting their health outcomes in the scorecard, and the new data is leading us into an era of increased transparency and accountability, so that together we can improve the quality of care we give to the vulnerable Americans that depend on this vital program,” added Verma.

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The updated scorecard has 53 new data points reported by states across the 12 measures within the state health system performance portion, including measures on postpartum care; well child visits; potentially avoidable hospitalizations for diabetes among adults; and follow-up after hospitalization for mental health among adults.

“As part of CMS’s overall commitment to robust public reporting of quality and administrative metrics that drive performance improvement, the agency is also working to enhance the functionality of the scorecard as part of a comprehensive annual update expected to be published later this fall,” according to the announcement.

“The updated scorecard will have improvements in both the measure set and in website functionality,” reveals the agency. “CMS has engaged with a broad set of internal and external stakeholders to finalize the updates to the fall scorecard measure set and to encourage greater reporting across a broader set of metrics to improve consistency across states.”