March 17, 2020
We write a lot about how whistleblowers can use public data to improve their case. Some of the best sources of the data is the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS), which publishes various statistics each year. Thus, it is always exciting for us whenever a new crop of information becomes public. That happened in February when the government published the Medicare Program Statistics.
The program statistics are detailed summary statistics on Medicare populations, utilization, and expenditures. They also include counts for Medicare-certified institutional and non-institutional providers.
This information is not the detailed provider level data available in the Public Utilization Files, or the Open Payments System. However, these program statistics can give a reader a really great sense of where the government spends health care dollars and how that is changing.
For example, the Physicians and Suppliers Table 1 gives a great look at spending growth since 2012. It also shows how Medicare allocates 110 Billion dollars among 33 million beneficiaries:
If you have some time take a walk through this information. It will give you a great sense of what data the government makes available and what we as a country spend on healthcare. It will also give you a new appreciation for whistleblowers who help protect it from fraud.