Insurance Claim Forms: What Does the Fine Print Say?

Summary & Participants

"I authorize the release of any medical or other information necessary to process this claim." Do you recognize these words? You should, if you've ever read the fine print above your signature on a medical insurance claim form. But what does it really mean? What are you releasing, and to whom? And what about all the writing on the back of the form? Join our panel of experts as they discuss your medical privacy rights are and what rights you give up when you make an insurance claim.

Medically Reviewed On: May 07, 2008

Webcast Transcript

DAVID MARKS, MD: Hi, and welcome to our webcast. I'm Dr. David Marks. This is an insurance form. We've all seen it, and we all see it every time we go to the doctor or the hospital. We're supposed to sign our names to it, but we're also supposed to read what's on it. I know I don't, and probably most of you don't, either. The question is, what happens when we sign our names? What does that mean?

We have two experts to help us figure that out. First is Aytan Bellin. He is a healthcare attorney in New York City. Welcome.

AYTAN BELLIN, JD: Glad to be here.

DAVID MARKS, MD: And David Hoffman is also a healthcare attorney here in New York City. Thanks for being here.

AYTAN BELLIN, JD: Hello.

DAVID MARKS, MD: On every one of these forms, one of the things that it says right above the signature is, "I authorize the release of any medical or other information necessary to process this claim." That's kind of a can of worms here. What does that actually mean?

DAVID HOFFMAN, JD: It's amazing what you're doing when you sign that form. Now, the notion of privacy and confidentiality of medical information is so basic to our society, I think everyone takes it for granted, that of course your medical information is private, what you discuss with your doctor goes no further, and that's true up until the moment that you ask an insurance company to pay out the cost of that treatment to the doctor. When you do that, you're giving the insurance company permission to invade all of that privacy that we all take so seriously.

DAVID MARKS, MD: Is that bad? What are the consequences of that?

AYTAN BELLIN, JD: There are a number of consequences. First of all, the insurance companies say, and there's some truth to it, that they need the information in order to be able to determine how much to pay for the treatment. But the question is, sort of, what restraints are there on the insurance company once they get that information? Most people know that it is a canon of medical physicians won't disclose your information, but what do the insurance companies do with that? In fact, some insurance companies will submit information to an organization called the Medical Information Bureau, which collects all sorts of medical information about individuals who have made insurance claims, and then when other insurance companies want to find out whether you've had certain types of illnesses or treatments when you apply for other types of insurance, they'll go into the Medical Information Bureau and find out about it. So, really, when you're giving that information to them, it may not just be to them.

DAVID MARKS, MD: How far can this information travel, theoretically?

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