To increase access to data for health care providers, employers and other stakeholders, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently suggested regulations for insurance care offerings that are conducive to informing better decisions.
The Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) will permit qualified groups to share or sell confidential evaluations of claims information, subject to rigorous privacy and security rules, for both Medicare and private insurance cases.
MACRA has evolved from Section 10332 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). It will enable eligible entities to generate public reports based on Medicare and other insurance data with the purpose of gaining perspective on how health care providers and suppliers are performing across multiple payers — such as Medicare, Medicaid or commercial insurance plan organizations.
To date, 13 such businesses have applied and been approved for qualification. Two have completed their public reporting.
“Increasing access to analyses and data that include Medicare data will make it easier for stakeholders throughout the health care system to make smarter and more informed health care decisions,” CMS Acting Administrator Andy Slavitt said.
MACRA echoes the Obama administration’s goal to streamline health care via spending that is better and more efficient — and, ultimately, through healthier citizens.
Consumers can submit comments about this ruling by going to www.regulations.gov from now through March 29.
