Reporting

• In general, information on the effectiveness of health care outcomes and services for people covered under Medicaid, was found to be lacking in a 2007 analysis by Mathematica Policy Research. Twenty one states reported data under the Health Care Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS), which is a measure used by many health plans to assess the performance of the overall delivery of health care. However, the research group found the data to be "sometimes thin."
  
  

Considerations

• In Illinois, Medicaid spending represented 30 percent of the state's total budget as of 2010, yet the Illinois Policy Institute found that the state lacked sufficient publicly-available data showing the effectiveness of health care delivered to people covered under Medicaid health plans.
  
  

Importance

• Public reporting of Medicaid health care quality is seen as a key aspect of making the system of health care delivery more cost effective. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services projected that Medicaid spending nationwide would reach $674 billion by 2017, outpacing the growth in the economy.