The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services had introduced a new “Medicaid scorecard” that the agency says it hopes will “…increase public transparency about the programs’ administration and outcomes.”

The scorecard, now posted on the Medicaid web site, presents information and data from the federal government, and reported voluntarily by the states, in three areas:  state health system performance, state administrative accountability, and federal administrative accountability.

The scorecard currently offers information on selected health and program indicators.  Visitors can see comparative data between states and also extensive information about individual state Medicaid programs, including eligibility criteria, enrollment, quality performance, and key state documents such as state plan amendments, waivers, and managed care program overviews.  The site also presents individual state and comparative state performance based on a variety of metrics while also reporting on federal turnaround time on matters such as waiver requests and rate reviews.  CMS envisions the scorecard evolving from year to year by offering more and different information.

Go here to see a CMS fact sheet on the new Medicaid scorecard and go here to visit the scorecard’s home page.