Files for Order - General Information

PUBLIC USE FILE/LIMITED DATA SET ALERT – CHANGE IN PAYMENT PROCESSING

Effective March 1, 2010, CMS is requiring that all requestors of Public Use Files and Limited Data Sets submit their payments via Pay.gov.  Pay.gov was developed for making secure electronic payments to Federal Government Agencies.  CMS will continue to receive requests with checks through April 30, 2010 to allow for any requestors that may have submitted requests prior to this notification. 

This change is extremely beneficial to both the requestor and CMS.  By submitting your payment online to Pay.gov, recording your Agency Tracking ID on the PUF or LDS order form, and emailing your complete order form (with payment already processed) to CMS, your requests will be received and processed in a much more efficient manner.  There will no longer be a chance of checks getting separated from requests or requests being lost in the mail.

The new process will require the requestor to:

1.  Obtain the appropriate order form (either PUF or LDS) from the CMS website;

2.  Complete the order form with the exception of the Agency Tracking ID which will be obtained after the Pay.gov transaction has been completed.  By completing the PUF/LDS order form, you will be provided with a total cost.

3.  Go to the Pay.gov website.  Follow the directions to find the CMS Data Payment Form or use the direct link in the Related Links Outside CMS section below. Follow the Pay.gov directions to proceed with processing your transaction.  At the end of your successful transaction, you will be provided with a Agency Tracking ID.  This tracking ID must be recorded on your PUF/LDS order form prior to submission to CMS.  Without your Agency Tracking ID, we will not be able to verify your payment when receiving your order form.

4.  Once you have recorded your Agency Tracking ID onto your order form, submit the electronic order form to CMS at the following email address:  CMS FilesforOrder@cms.hhs.gov 

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is responsible for administering the Medicare, Medicaid and State Children's Health Insurance Programs, as well as a number of health oversight programs. CMS gathers and formats data to support the agency's operations. Information about Medicare beneficiaries, Medicare claims, Medicare providers, clinical data, and Medicaid eligibility and claims is included. This data is made available to the public, subject to privacy release approvals and the availability of computing resources.

Our data is presented on this site by the level of privacy review required for release. Each of the three categories has its own process for requesting data.  Below is a listing of each of the files available by category.  Please see the link to each of the three categories in the Links within CMS section below.

I.  Identifiable Data Files contain actual beneficiary-specific and physician-specific information.  Identifiable Files require a formal request to be submitted to CMS for approval.    

 II.  Limited Data Set Files (LDS) are identical to the previous Beneficiary Encrypted Files, but they have been stripped of data elements that might permit identification of beneficiaries.  These files contain beneficiary level health information but exclude specified direct identifiers as outlined in the HIPAA Privacy Rule.