Letter on Proposal to Release Medicare Physician Data

Earlier this week CDT, with the support of the National Partnership for Women & Families and the National Consumers League, submitted a letter in response to a request from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for comments on a policy proposal governing the release of Medicare physician data.  The letter emphasized that Medicare claims information that is released should be de-identified pursuant to the HIPAA Privacy Rule’s statistical de-identification method.  In addition, the letter urged CMS to evaluate information requests based upon whether the information will be used to further the public’s interest.