Introduction -

State policymakers and regulators are frequently confronted with questions and concerns about the performance of our health care system and find themselves without the necessary information to effectively respond. Data about our health care system—from who it serves to the services it provides, and from the costs we incur to the outcomes we face—are fragmented, narrow and siloed, scattered across federal and state sources. State health care regulatory agencies have historically depended on focused data reporting from regulated entities to support their information needs; few have access to comprehensive market data, leaving gaps in states’ understanding of how health care markets writ large—which are not bound by line-ofbusiness, geography or product type—are functioning.