FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST (FOIA)

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST (FOIA)


How to File a CMS FOIA Request

Step 1 -In order to make a FOIA request, simply e-mail FOIA_Request@cms.hhs.gov or write to the CMS FOIA Office or the appropriate CMS Regional Office. The addresses and fax numbers for the CMS FOIA Office and the addresses, fax numbers, and e-mail addresses for the CMS Regional Offices are available at the "Where to File" link below.

Step 2 -For the quickest possible handling, please mark both your letter and the envelope "Freedom of Information Act Request." You should identify the records that you seek as specifically as possible in order to increase the likelihood that the CMS will be able to locate them. Any facts that you can furnish about the time, place, authors, events, subjects, and other details of the records will be helpful to us in deciding where to search for the records that you seek.

We have provided several sample FOIA request letters that you may want to use as a guide based on the type of information you are requesting from CMS.

Step 3 -Please note that if you are requesting medical records for someone other than yourself, you will need to complete a Medicare Authorization To Disclose Personal Health Information form along with your request. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) authorization form can be found in "Downloads" as Medicare Authorization To Disclose Personal Health Information. If the individual signing the valid authorization is not the beneficiary, then a Power of Attorney must be provided along with your request.

Step 4 -If you are requesting medical records for a deceased person, you must either A) include a copy of the document authenticating your authority as the executor, administrator, or other person authorized to act upon the behalf of the person for whom records are sought (such as probate court document, or orders of administration and/or executorship); or B) if you are not the executor of the estate, you must include a signed release authorization from the legal representative of the deceased, as well as the document authenticating the representative's authority (such as probate court document, or orders of administration and/or executorship).

More can be read at:

https://www.cms.gov/FOIA/03_filehow.asp#TopOfPage

Posted by Advocate for the Elderly and Disabled at 2:02 PM


Labels: CMS, FOIA request, Freedom of Information

Editor's note: Alice R. Gore Estate value about 1 million dollars: Alice R. Gore, deceased, a disabled 99 year old ward of the Probate Court of Cook County, Judge Kawamoto’s courtroom was hours away from ending up in the Cook County Morgue. Alice's estate was depleted by probate court parasites and there were reportedly no funds to bury her. Her loving family paid for the burial expenses so that Alice would not have to suffer the indignity of being stacked like an Auschwitz inmate in the Cook County morgue. The judge allowed an easily manipulated mentally disabled granddaughter to be appointed as Alice’s guardian and yet no sanctions were instituted against the judge or court officers for this blatant infraction of the law.



Strangely, 16 of Alice’s annuity checks, two of which show forged endorsements, disappeared. Alice’s daughter has a copy of a check with her signature possibly forged. The daughter’s attorney has been trying to obtain copies of the 16 other annuity checks for two years without success. Even more puzzling is a $150,000 life insurance policy owned by Alice and not inventoried into the estate by the court. The Probate Court of Cook of Cook County refuses to investigate these blatant infractions of the law. Lucius Verenus, Schoolmaster, ProbateSharks.com

KawamotoDragon.com