VERIFIED · FEDERALREGISTER.GOV

CMS Announces Release of Public Data Assets Under the OPEN Government Data Act

NoticeHealth and Human Services DepartmentJuly 23, 2026

By Christopher Smoot, Founder & Editor · Last verified against source: July 23, 2026

Plain-English Summary

CMS is notifying the public that it will soon make certain data assets available in open, machine‑readable formats. The data will be released under an open license to allow unrestricted use. The purpose is to enable public engagement in identifying fraud, waste, and abuse. CMS says it has taken steps to protect any sensitive information while promoting accountability.

Current Status

This is a Notice published in the Federal Register on July 23, 2026.

What This Means

The notice signals that CMS has identified specific data sets that it will clean, de‑identify as needed, and post online in formats like CSV or JSON that computers can read. By using an open license, any person or organization can download, analyze, and reuse the data without seeking permission. The data are intended to be useful for watchdog groups, journalists, researchers, and the public to spot patterns that suggest improper payments or program misuse. CMS explicitly links this release to the requirements of Title II of the Foundations for Evidence‑Based Policymaking Act, which mandates that agencies make data publicly available when it furthers transparency and does not compromise privacy. The agency also notes it has evaluated the data to ensure that the release does not inadvertently expose protected health information or other sensitive details.

Who Is Affected

Health‑care providers and insurers that receive Medicare or Medicaid payments may see increased scrutiny of their billing practices. Fraud‑prevention organizations, media outlets, and academic researchers will have new data to analyze for irregularities. State Medicaid agencies can use the data to benchmark program performance. The general public gains a clearer view of how federal health funds are being spent.

Background

The notice is required by the OPEN Government Data Act, which is part of the 2018 Foundations for Evidence‑Based Policymaking Act. The law obliges agencies to publish data that support evidence‑based decision‑making and to do so in open, machine‑readable form unless a specific exemption applies. CMS is responding to ongoing concerns about fraud, waste, and abuse in Medicare and Medicaid programs, which cost the Treasury billions of dollars each year. By releasing data, CMS aims to meet its statutory transparency duties and to leverage external watchdogs in detecting improper payments.

Arguments For

Providing data in an open format directly supports the statutory goal of increasing transparency and enabling evidence‑based oversight of health‑care spending. External analysts can identify fraud patterns more quickly than the agency could on its own, potentially saving money and improving program integrity. The open‑license approach encourages innovation, allowing developers to create new tools for public accountability.

Arguments Against

The abstract does not indicate any major controversy; however, some stakeholders may worry that even de‑identified data could be re‑identified or that the release could impose administrative burdens on CMS to prepare the data. No specific opposition is noted in the notice.

Economic Considerations

Because the notice does not include a formal regulatory impact analysis, any cost or benefit estimates are speculative. The agency will incur short‑term expenses for data cleaning, privacy reviews, and platform hosting, but these are routine for open‑data initiatives. In the longer term, the public’s ability to detect fraud could translate into cost savings for the Medicare and Medicaid programs, though quantifying that impact would require further study.

Sections beyond the plain-English summary are AI-synthesized analysis based on the sourced Federal Register filing, read, edited where needed, and approved by a human editor before publication. Full methodology: Editorial & Methodology.

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