Insurance Health Insurance

How Do Health Insurance Companies Find Out About Your Health?

    Personal Health Record

    • Health insurance companies are beginning to develop personal health records for their patients to easily understand. This type of health record can also be used to transfer from one health company to another as an individual changes health care providers. Personal health records can include an individual's medical records, hospital stays, emergency room visits and lab tests. Companies that compile a personal heath record should have a privacy policy detailing how the data will be protected.

    Policy Application

    • Individuals who apply for health insurance typically need to complete an application which will require entering medical conditions and hospital stays. The application is one of the main items that is used by a health insurance company to obtain information about an individual's health. Insurance companies many also request information from a personal health record to verify the information that has been included on an application.

    Medical Information Bureau

    • Information that is shared by various insurance companies is contained in a database that has been compiled by the Medical Information Bureau or MIB. This is a central database that includes codes for specific types of medical conditions and certain activities. The database does not contain detailed information about an individual's health history. There are currently more than 600 insurance carriers that use the MIB to obtain information about applicants that apply for health insurance.

    Intelliscript and MedPoint

    • These two companies compile and maintain databases that contain information about an individual's purchase history for prescription drugs. Information in these databases can include the types of drugs purchased, the dosage amounts and any refills that have been obtained. Insurance companies can use this information to include exclusions in a policy, increase the premium for a policy or decline to offer a policy.

    Other Types of Disclosures

    • Individuals may have some health or medical information disclosed to third parties when a health screening has been performed. Health screening can be conducted in a variety of locations such as a mall, at a pharmacy and other non-medical locations. Health screenings can include blood pressure, an individual's cholesterol level and her weight. This information can then find its way to various data banks that may be used by a health insurance company.



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