Appointments to the newly created State All Payer Claims Databases Advisory Committee in March were an encouraging sign, because these databases offer policymakers, researchers, and other stakeholders ready access to comprehensive, easy-to-analyze, longitudinal information on the use of health care services and their costs. Including information from self-insured employers would make them even more valuable tools.
State all-payer claims databases (APCDs) collect and aggregate health care claims from public insurers, including Medicare and Medicaid, and from private insurers. Eighteen states currently have these databases up and running; 12 more have legislation or other efforts in the works to create them.
