Last August, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) must release Medicare physicians claims information for Illinois, Maryland, Virginia, Washington state, and the District of Columbia. (Kaiser Network)
An organization called Consumers’ CHECKBOOK/Center for the Study of Services sued for access to this information apparently “to help the public evaluate the performance of the program and the physicians,” and HHS cited physician privacy violations.
HHS filed notice to appeal on October 19. HHS spokesperson Kevin Schweers said the department was “fully committed to making available as much Medicare data as allowable by law. Unfortunately, in the case at hand, two federal courts interpret the law differently, and we’re caught in the middle until that dispute is settled. When that day does come, it’ll be a day too late as far as we’re concerned.”
