Should I share my personal medical information with my health insurance company?
I'm very skeptical about this, and questioned the nurse who called in depth. Any information I give them is directly available to the insurer. There is no buffer of anonymity. They claim that the insurance company *can* look at my information, but that they *don't*. This sounds like "Oh just trust us" to me.
I'm perfectly happy with the standard of care I get from my doctors. It strikes me that the insurance company and I have different vested interests. Mine is to make sure the insurance company pays for my medical expenses. Theirs is to keep down their costs. They say that by having another level of service available to me helps keep me healthy and out of the doctor's office and this benefits everyone by keeping their costs down.
I recognize that they have a vested interest in keeping me healthy to keep their costs down, but at the end of the day, I expect them to pay for any medical expenses I may have, regardless of whether they like it or not.
What do other people think? Do you guys buy into this and share your personal information with your insurance company? I just think that personal information of that nature is best kept out of the hands of one's insurance company. Am I wrong? Are these so-called services useful?
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M$3 Answers
I am a licensed agent for health and life in Tennessee with multiple carriers.
http://www.lifeplanningtn.com
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M$
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M$
http://www.medicare.gov/PHR/LearnMoreAboutPHR.asp#PHRPrivateWith a central record, you can share information about your recent ... A PHR should store the personal and health information you wish to ... insurance information, like the name of your insurance company and ... Can the PHR import my claims or medical information from my health plan and/or doctors? ...
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M$
Ultimately, I declined to share any information with them. I explained to the nurse they contract with that my objection is that the insurance company COULD choose to keep a wall of anonymity between their nursing service and themselves, but they DON'T actually do that. Since anything I would discuss with the nursing staff would be available for the insurance company to access, and since I have an actual medical group with my doctor and nurses where my records *are* private, I just don't need the insurance company's service, since I can't be assured that they have my best interests at stake, rather than their own.
For what it's worth, the nurse replied that mine was the most reasoned answer declining their service that she's ever been given, and she understood my reasoning.