The NH has the right of access to the following information on all individuals filing for or receiving benefits on their record:

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  First and last name and relationship to the NH (if the NH’s child has been adopted by another person and is receiving benefits on the NH’s record, we should not tell the NH the child’s new first and last name);

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  Fact of entitlement;

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  Date of entitlement; and

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  Benefit amount (a benefit amount may be different from a check amount).

NOTE: The NH has a right to know this information when it is in their record. However, the NH does not have a right of access to all the information about the auxiliary beneficiary that may be in their own claims file because some of the auxiliary beneficiary’s information may not be relevant to the NH’s request.

The NH does not have right of access to the following information about an auxiliary beneficiary on their record:

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  Payment or check amount; (A payment amount is any amount of money paid to a person that can include several months of retroactive benefits, a lump sum payment representing an increase in benefits covering a specified period, or a one-check-only payment for some other reason.)

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  Payment or check status; and

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  Address and other information that pertain to the auxiliary beneficiary.

A NH has the right of access to information in their record about the representative payee such as:

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  the payee's first and last name;

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  payment address;

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  accounting reports pertaining to the benefits the payee received on behalf of the beneficiary; and

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  other information that is relevant to the payee's management of the NH's benefits.

A NH may not request access to:

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  the payee's PII, such as Social Security number (SSN) and home address;

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  the payee's application;

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  information about whether the payee serves as payee for other persons;

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  other information that is not relevant to the payee's management of the NH's benefits; and

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  any information pertaining to an auxiliary's payee.

The NH (claimant, beneficiary, or any record holder) may also have the right of access to the first and last names of other persons noted on their record when release would not raise privacy concerns for the third party individual. For example, if there is information in the claims file that notes the name of the Administrative Law Judge deciding the claim, the NH has a right of access to that information since it pertains to their record. In most cases, we will withhold information about a third party in the NH’s record in order to protect the party’s privacy. For questions concerning an individual’s right to access information about other people in their own records, please contact the Office of Privacy and Disclosure.