Chairman Carper Highlights Public Release of Medicare Payment Data

Statement

Today, Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), Chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, highlighted the public release of data by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that shows Medicare payments to physicians. For more information and to view the data, visit HHS's website, here.

"The Administration took a major step this week by expanding public access to a vast amount of Medicare payment information," said Chairman Carper. "While this new public database will need ongoing maintenance and refinement, there are clearly opportunities for consumers, health care providers and policymakers to gain a better understanding of how our Medicare dollars are spent, including helping our ongoing efforts to curb waste, fraud, and abuse. I believe that creating a pool of accessible Medicare payment information will help forge a stronger partnership between the public, federal agencies and the health care community to identify waste and fraud, and improve how our vital health care systems operate."

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