CMS NEWS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 16, 2020

Contact: CMS Media Relations
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CMS Releases Medicaid and CHIP T-MSIS Data to Provide Public Access and Transparency into Program Performance

Public availability of current data increases accountability and strengthens oversight of Medicaid program.

Today, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released updated Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) data that is used for monitoring program performance and analyzing state and federal payments for services. The Transformed Medicaid Statistical Information System (T-MSIS) data provides information on key topics including service utilization and spending, and supports research and analysis that helps improve quality of care for beneficiaries.

“As part of the Trump Administration’s push to make Medicaid accountable to the people it serves, CMS has worked closely with each state to improve its T-MSIS reporting,” said CMS Administrator Seema Verma. “As a result, we now have more reliable data available than ever before to promote sound program performance, to protect American taxpayers, and build a Medicaid program that works for Medicaid beneficiaries.”

T-MSIS data is the most current and complete Medicaid and CHIP data resource available and builds upon years of CMS’ work toward strengthening data availability for these coverage programs that serve more than 73 million low-income Americans. Today’s data release includes research-ready data files for calendar years 2017-2018.

CMS has worked with each state to improve the quality and completeness of its T-MSIS data and identified 32 focus areas for all states to address as a high priority. The agency established an ongoing collaboration with states to address these focus areas, and is tracking these as part of the Administrator’s Scorecard. The 2017 and 2018 data release marks a watershed in the timeliness and quality of Medicaid and CHIP data available to the public. Additionally, later this year, updated T-MSIS data for calendar years 2014, 2015 and 2016 will be released to reflect the substantial data quality improvements undertaken by state partners.

In keeping with the agency’s commitment to transparency, CMS launched the Data Quality (DQ) Atlas tool on July 31, 2020. This tool allows the public to review the quality and usability of the T-MSIS research-ready files for all calendar years of published T-MSIS data. The DQ Atlas is an interactive, web-based tool to help policymakers, analysts, researchers, and other stakeholders explore the quality and usability of the T-MSIS data for their analytic needs. These needs include the ability to conduct insightful, methodologically sound analyses of key Medicaid and CHIP topics such as enrollment, claims, expenditures and service use.

External researchers can obtain access to T-MSIS data by submitting a request to the CMS Research Data Assistance Center (ResDAC) and signing a CMS data use agreement containing strict beneficiary privacy and data security requirements. To learn more visit the ResDAC website: https://www.resdac.org/.

To view fact sheet, please visit: https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/fact-sheets/additional-medicaid-and-chip-t-msis-analytic-files-data-release