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Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is a Federal statute that allows individuals to request access to Federal agency records unless they are protected from disclosure.

What We Do

The Freedom of Information and Privacy Acts Division handles FOIA and Privacy Act requests. We respect the right of the public to access information in OIG's possession, but also protect privileged information.

The Freedom of Information Act generally provides that any person has a right, enforceable in court, to obtain access to federal agency records, except to the extent that such records (or portions of them) are protected from disclosure by one of nine exemptions or by one of three special law enforcement record exclusions. Our policy is to answer all requests as accurately and completely as possible from existing records.

Submitting FOIA Requests

Before You Request

First, check to see if the information you are looking for is already publicly available. Check the FOIA Public Access Link (PAL) and the links below for documents already online.

Submit a Request

By requesting your records online - End of
Translation Click to Translate text after this point you can bypass mailing, paper processing, and returned mail that can add significant additional time to your request.

If the information you want is not publicly available (see the section above), follow these steps to submit a FOIA request:

  1. Request only the specific records you need. We can return precise requests much faster.
  2. Use the button below to make your request through the FOIA PAL or visit FOIA.gov. You will be prompted to login or create a Login.gov account.

Submit a FOIA Request

About Electronic Submissions

HHS-OIG no longer accepts FOIA requests via email. Please use the button above to submit a request using the FOIA PAL. If you can’t submit your request online, you can file a request by physical mail or fax.

About Settlement Agreements

Settlement agreements with integrity provisions are not electronically available through HHS-OIG or this website. Copies of such settlement agreements may be obtained through a filing a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with the United States Department of Justice. For information on filing a DOJ FOIA request, go to www.justice.gov. This FOIA request should be as specific as possible.

Fees for FOIA Services

Departmental FOIA Regulations allow us to recover part of the costs associated with the processing of FOIA requests.

For purposes of fees, the FOIA divides requesters into three categories:

  • commercial use requesters;
  • news media, educational, or scientific requesters; and
  • all other requesters.

Commercial use requesters are charged for search time, document review, and duplication. News media, educational, and scientific requesters are charged for duplication only, after the first 100 pages. All other requesters are charged for search time (after two hours) and duplication (after 100 pages).

FOIA Search Fee Schedule

The reproduction fees are $0.10 per page. The current search and review fees are determined by the General Schedule (GS) Salary Level of HHS employee Hourly Fee, as listed below:

  • GS 8: < $23
  • GS 9-14: $46
  • GS 15: > $83

More detailed information can be found in the HHS FOIA Regulation.

Fee Waivers

You may request a fee waiver for FOIA preprocessing fees. However, fee waivers are limited to situations in which a requester can show that disclosure of the requested information is in the public interest because it is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations and activities of the government and is not primarily in the commercial interest of the requester.

The FOIA Fees are detailed in the Department of Health and Human Services FOIA Regulations .

Additional HHS FOIA Service Centers

Each FOIA office in HHS has a FOIA Requester Service Center that processes relevant FOIA requests.