They Know What's in Your Medicine Cabinet

[DogPoundPup]

That prescription you just picked up at the drugstore could hurt your chances of getting health insurance.
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_31/b4094000643943.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index_news+%2B+analysis

[my2sense]

1. We no longer have privacy in this country

This is absolutely ridiculous. It seems this would be protected information under HIPPA.

[cosmik debris]

7. Read what you sign,

When you apply for insurance, you sign away your HIPPA rights.

And in many cases when you apply for employment you sign away those rights too.

Once you have authorized an insurance company to look at your medical records, you can't complain because they use the authority you gave them.

Read the fine print!

[beam me up scottie]

2. What bothers me is that our employers now have full access to our medical records.

They have to "manage" the insurance plan and they get copies of many documents.

I'm supposed to trust an H.R. person or office manager to be impartial to the information they are privy to including birth control, treatment for depression, sexual dysfunction, etc ?

Right.

[Liberal Veteran]

4. That's only if the company is "self-insured".

And even then, most companies outsource the actually management of the plan to an insurance company. So while it is possible in the latter scenario for an HR department to be aware that someone in the company is getting a very expensive procedure, it is highly unlikely that an employee in HR is going to get specific individual health information.

[beam me up scottie]

5. Nope, Blue Cross/Anthem.

When I misplaced a bill I was allowed to look through my file in HR.

Same thing at my previous company, except the records were kept in the VP's office.

[Liberal Veteran]

6. Then it is likely BC/A was managing a self-insured plan.

I cannot imagine a group policy that was not self-insured doing much more than paying premiums as per contract.

[salvorhardin]

3. Potential for abuse?

From the article:

Privacy and consumer advocates warn that the information can easily be misinterpreted or knowingly misused.

I would say that if the insurance companies have this information, and are using it to make decisions on denial of coverage, then it is already being abused.

[tridim]

8. ..Unless you're Rush Limbaugh. nt