Carefully matching agency resources and authorities with specific ACA-related data functions will help states gather, analyze, and report relevant information efficiently and effectively while minimizing the burden on those providing data.

*Milestone details:

*Full name: Assign state agency responsibilities for data collection, analysis, and public reporting required by the ACA.

*Relevance to the ACA:

In some cases, the ACA specifies which state entity will be required to perform specific data collection, analysis, or public reporting tasks. In other cases, states will have discretion in divvying up responsibilities. Examples include:

§1003 – In states receiving premium review grants, commissioners of insurance will be required to review the reasonableness of proposed health plan premium increases. Analysis of claims data and cost trends can inform these decisions.

§1343 – States will have flexibility in designating an entity to impose risk adjustment charges and distribute corresponding credits to health plans. To fulfill the statutory requirements, the designated entity will need to analyze claims data and other information in order to determine relative actuarial risk of beneficiaries across plans.

§4302 – Medicaid and CHIP programs to be responsible for collecting data on race, ethnicity, sex, primary language, and disability status. DHHS will use this data to analyze and report on health care disparities across states.