Maybe the best solution is don't keep the records. The DB cannot be mined if it does not exist. That's what I hate about the proposed national info clearing house. Anyone who believes that "confidential" information won't be plundered as a matter of routine is naive or lying.
“How much in the past do they go?”
They come up with their own number of yrs for each condition/medication. The companies don’t want people to know what parameters they’re using.
“The Miami Herald asked several other major Florida insurers — Aetna, Humana and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida — for copies of their underwriting guides. All refused, saying they contained propriety information and were confidential.”
“Searching the Web, The Miami Herald found underwriting guidelines for Coventry Health Care, which owns Vista; Wellpoint; Assurant Health; and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Nebraska.”
Or don't create a record in the first place.
You can get meds from other countries, like making a trip just over the border to Juarez or Algodones, Mexico (where prescriptions aren't required) or at various places in Canada or the Caribbean.
Or you can use an untrackable prepaid Visa card to shop on the Internet (using another name, and having packages delivered to another address, like a friend or a UPS store).
Someone told me 5 years is how far back they go. I don’t believe that. If they can find out you ever took some medication, you cannot get private insurance you can afford ... maybe not get it at all.
At some point it becomes cheaper to pay out of pocket and go without insurance. As more people lose their jobs, the insurance industry will be losing so much in premiums from all the people who are no longer covered.
At which time time they will either change their policies to get more customers ... or ask for government ‘bailout’ for lost revenue.
Probably the latter.