Consumers' Checkbook, Center for the Study of Services v. United States Department of Health & Human Services

In holding that Exemption 6 of the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”), 5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(6), is dispositive, Op. at 1056, the court has assessed a strong privacy interest for private physicians who receive Medicare reimbursements while ignoring the commanding public interest in disclosure of information that would enhance the public’s ability to evaluate how well the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) is performing its statutory duties under the Medicare program. As subjective evaluations should not affect the balancing of these interests, it is significant that two district…