This isn’t news. It’s been common practice in the health insurance industry for decades.
“This isn’t news. It’s been common practice in the health insurance industry for decades.”
“The medications, of course, are indications of specific health problems. To make sure that applicants are not lying, insurers hire a data-gathering service — Medical Information Bureau, Milliman’s Intelliscript or Ingenix Medpoint.
Intelliscript and Medpoint do computerized searches of a person’s drug use, gleaned from pharmacy benefits managers and other databases. The two companies say they comply with privacy laws. ‘’Ingenix requires each Medpoint client to obtain the authorization of the individual applicant or insured person,’’ said Ingenix spokeswoman Karin Olson.
Last year, the Federal Trade Commission accused both companies of violating the Fair Credit Reporting Act by not offering to provide consumers with information about them. The companies agreed to settlements in which they promised to let people see their personal information.”
Computerized searches like this haven’t been around for decades
Also, with the newer medical privacy regulations, I think people are fooled into believing that their medical history is more private than it really is.
The insurance companies go too far, though. Gallbladder disease, for example, is not a life-threatening complication. Just about everyone in my husband's family has had their gallbladder removed. His dad just turned 70 and is fit and active. What's going on here is that the insurance companies are maximizing their quest for the almighty dollar.