Bill calls for greater transparency in Medicare claims data

A bipartisan bill in the Senate is calling for greater transparency in the Medicare claims data program.

The Medicare Data Access for Transparency and Accountability Act—introduced by Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.)—would require the Department of Health and Human Services to issue regulations to make publicly available a free, searchable Medicare payment database. The legislation also clarifies that Medicare data on payments to physicians and suppliers are not exempted under the Freedom of Information Act. A similar bill was introduced in 2011, but died in committee.

“Taxpayers have a right to see how their hard-earned dollars are being spent. There should not be a special exemption for hard-earned dollars that happen to be spent through Medicare,” Grassley said in a June 18 press statement.

Grassley and Wyden acknowledged federal efforts to make some data publicly available, but said those efforts fall short.

Earlier this month, the senators had urged more oversight of the $500 billion program. “The bad actors get bigger and bolder all the time. They stay out of law enforcement’s reach all too often. It’s time to try new things,” they said at the time.  

In the most recent announcement, they cited a Federal Bureau of Investigation report that estimates fraudulent billings to both public and private healthcare programs to account for three to 10 percent of total healthcare costs.