Overview

Different Medicaid claims data sources each had their own strengths and weaknesses. The Medicaid Data Learning Network (MDLN), in collaboration with the AcademyHealth State Health Research and Policy Interest Group, hosted a virtual panel of experts to speak to the pros and cons of three Medicaid claims data sources: state Medicaid Claims, T-MSIS Analytic Files (TAF), and All Payer Claims Databases (APCDs). While TAF data were appropriate for national analyses and multi-state comparisons, all-payer claims databases and individual state data could often provide in-depth explorations of a given state or unique data linkages. Panelists discussed trade-offs in cost, generalizability, and data quality.

We heard expert insights from Carol Irvin, PhD (Mathematica), Julie Donohue, PhD (University of Pittsburgh), and Josephine Porter, MPH (APCD Council/University of New Hampshire) on how TAF, state, and APCD data, respectively, could be successfully leveraged to answer policy-relevant questions about the Medicaid program and what challenges each posed.

The webinar recording is available here.

Slides from the webinar are available here.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this webinar, attendees:

• Understood the strengths and weaknesses of different Medicaid claims data sources.

• Identified appropriate uses for each data source, and

• Learned what policy-relevant questions can be answered using medical claims data.