37 States Join CMS Initiative To Shift Medicaid Quality Measurement Toward Health Outcomes

Thirty-seven states have joined a new Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) initiative – Investing in Health Outcomes – to shift Medicaid quality measurement toward health outcomes and away from a reliance on process and utilization measures. Through the voluntary initiative, participating states will focus on outcomes in prevention, chronic disease management, and behavioral health.

The initiative is intended to simplify a Medicaid quality measurement system that currently includes hundreds of reporting requirements, according to CMS. As of May 2026, Medicaid managed care programs across 42 states had approximately 450 reporting requirements corresponding to roughly 260 unique measures used for . . .