The report, “State Models for Health Care Cost Measurement: A Policy and Operational Framework,” looks at total cost of care measurement activities in four states, their rates of increase over time, and the policy priorities in each state that are driving the activity. It examines the questions these states had to ask in determining total cost of care measurement—where data comes from, what to count, how to count—and how they answered them.
This report was prepared at the request of the states doing this work so that they could document and compare each other’s approach. The pioneering strategies to limit the rate of health care cost growth—and to measure each state's performance—merit the attention of other states, policymakers, and observers.