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Re: med insrnc privacy - is it really this bad??

Posted by shar on July 30, 2002, at 1:10:26

In reply to Re: med insrnc privacy - is it really this bad??, posted by oracle on July 29, 2002, at 23:55:20

A few years ago I read, much to my dismay, about the formation of medical clearinghouses for insurance purposes. That is, it would be like a credit reporting company, but providing our personal health info to ... well, there's a lot of leeway there. At the very least they can provide info to any doc that is willing to pay, and the major market is, of course, insurance companies, and, I bet, employers.

So, these company's just collect and collect health care info on people. If a doc's office is computerized so that they exchange information with others, the reporting companies love it. They don't have to steal it either, since we usually sign away our rights.

I told my ob-gyn about it, and she acted shocked and said she'd heard of no such thing. Then 60 Minutes did a story on it, so there was some validation that I wasn't just making it all up.

I'm very comfortable crossing things out of those disclosure agreements, and adding things in. It may not be legally binding, but it at least feels better than just giving carte blanche to who knows who(m).

Shar

P.S. most docs do not like it when you do that crossing out stuff, and insurance companies don't either.


> > I recently got a new job. my new insurance just gives me the creeeps, on a RX claim or mail order form, it says the following
> >
> > "i authorize the release of information [what information?] to your plan sponsor, plan admin, health care providers [my other docs?], and employer??????"
>
>
> Welcome to the world of HMO's. I guess no one reads
> the thick policy info one gets when they sign on.
> A HMO shares it's info with almost everyone. This is why
> most pdoc's put as little as possible in the file.
>
> However, I would fight over this part:
> "and employer"
>
> I think work does not need all the info. I would
> only want to sign a release for specific info, on a case
> by case basis.


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