What's New: CMS to Review Data Requests for the
Medicare Name & Address File
October 2007, Updated
CMS will not release the Name & Address File directly to the researcher. CMS now requires researchers to work with a mailing contractor in order to contact beneficiaries. Researchers work with the mailing contractor to define their sample, but will no longer be able to contact beneficiaries directly. A CMS hired contractor will mail out descriptive information about the study to determine whether the beneficiary is interested in being contacted by the researcher for possible participation in the study. The researcher would only be able to contact those beneficiaries that respond "yes" to the mailing (active consent) and those beneficiaries that have not sent in a response post card after three weeks (passive consent).
To obtain the Medicare Name & Address File, researchers will be required to show that the Medicare Names & Address File is necessary to conduct their study. Researchers must provide a detailed explanation of how alternative sources of information cannot be used to obtain survey participants. Alternative sources for obtaining survey participants include, but may not be limited to, the Department of Motor Vehicles driver's license lists, State voter registrations lists, and Random Digit Dialing. The relative resource intensity (e.g., money, staff time) of obtaining survey participants from other sources versus CMS is not considered a sufficient justification for use.
Researchers need to submit a request packet to CMS containing:
- Standard request materials for Identifiable data requests (written request letter, study plan/protocol, DUA, data request form, privacy board review sheet, evidence of funding, federal project officer support letter, if applicable)
- Full Study Survey
- Brochure or informational letter about the study
- CMS beneficiary notification letter (standard-cannot be changed)
- Contract with the University of Minnesota Center for Survey Research which includes overview of services to be provided, as well as the cost to provide mailing services.
The CMS Privacy Board will review requests for these data. Note, CMS requires that ResDAC review all request for completeness and accuracy prior to submission to CMS.
Additional information about the CMS mailing contractor:
The designated CMS mailing contractor, the Center for Survey Research in Public Health at the University of Minnesota, is the intermediary between the researcher and the Medicare beneficiary. The researcher will hire the Center for Survey Research to determine whether the beneficiary is interested in being contacted by the researcher for possible participation in the study. In other words, the researcher will be responsible for paying the Center for Survey Research to contact the Medicare beneficiary. The Center for Survey Research will mail the following information to each beneficiary in the selected sample: CMS beneficiary notification letter, response letter indicating beneficiary interest in being contacted about the study, a pre-paid envelope for their reply, and (if provided by the researcher) a brochure about the study. The Survey Center will also provide a toll free number for beneficiaries and answer general questions about the project. The beneficiary notification letter is a CMS standard letter and is available in English and Spanish.
The Survey Center will provide to the researcher a file with the name, address and phone number of all beneficiaries who agree to be contacted by the researcher and names and addresses for those that have not responded within three weeks of the mailing. Additionally, a final disposition report on the entire mailed sample will also be provided for the purpose of determining response bias. Reports will be provided on a CD and sent FedEx to the researcher. Payment must be received before the reports are released. Note, there is an additional fee payable to CMS for the cost of extracting the Name & Address File from the CMS data system.
For additional information about using the Medicare Name & Address information for the purpose of contacting Medicare beneficiaries for enrollment in a study, including the CMS costs for the data file as well as the costs for the mailing contractor services, contact ResDAC staff.
Last Modified August 5, 2008