Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) last week in a letter to HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt said that the department should release more Medicare spending data as part of an effort to improve the health care system, the AP/Manchester Union Leader reports. In the letter, Gregg wrote that the release of Medicare spending data would allow a review of the quality and cost of health care.

Gregg has introduced a bill that would allow qualified private-sector groups to have access to Medicare spending data to allow such a review. He wrote, "In order for America's health care system to improve, we need to understand the quality of the care we are purchasing" (AP/Manchester Union Leader, 11/10).

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