The CMMS, an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, primarily administers Medicare and works in partnership with the states to administer Medicaid, the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) and other programs. The agency is responsible for the implementation of the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003, which extended a new prescription drug benefit to senior citizens.
On the agency’s website, consumers can search to see whether the health programs cover specific medical procedures or services, find data about Medicare and Medicaid enrollment, and find news on newly implemented regulations and policies.
A good place to start for official statistics on Medicare is the “overview” section of the most recent Medicare Trustees Report. The site also offers Medicare Facts & Figures and Medicaid Facts & Figures, which are periodically updated.
Comments: Be wary of press releases you may find on the site from high-level political appointees, which tend to reflect administration policy. However, nuts-and-bolts statistics regularly issued by CMS career professionals, especially the Medicare Actuary, are generally trusted by all sides.