My husband works for a small engineering firm that does gov't contracts. We are both under his health care plan. Two weeks ago, they had a company meeting and handed out a "Medical Information" form to fill out. Here is what it says:
All of the following questions must be answered with respect to each person for whom you are applying for coverage. Has anyone listed on this application ever had medical advice, treatment, or do you know or have reasons to know of health problems in regard to the following? Check YES or NO. This information will be used to evaluate medical risk, not eligibility for coverage:
a. NERVOUS - brain disease, stroke, epilepsy, seizures, fainting, dizziness, cerebral palsy, other nervous system disorders.
b. PSYCHIATRIC - psychiatric counseling, marriage counseling, family therapy, addiction to narcotics, barbiturates, amphetamines, or other drug dependency, nervous or mental disorders, alcoholism
c. GENITOURINARY SYSTEM: kidney, prostate, bladder, menstrual or other female disorders
d. MUSCULOSKELETAL: arthritis, rheumatism, bodily deformity, congenital abnormality, ruptured disc, any other muscular disorders
e. CARDIOPULMONARY: high blood pressure, heart disease, circulatory disorders, tuberculosis
f. DIGESTIVE SYSTEM: mouth, ulcers, stomach disease, gallbladder, colon, intestines disease, hernia, rectal disorders
g. EYE, EAR, NOSE, THROAT: asthma, sinus, allergies, disease of nose or ears, disease of throat or tonsils, impairment of sight or hearing
h. INCAPACITATION: physical handicaps, mental retardation, disabled or incapacitated as defined by Medicare.
i. HIV, AIDS, AIDS- related complex, Kaposi Sarcoma, Pneumocystis Carinii Pneumonia, Antibodies to Human T-Lymphotrophic Virus Type III
j. SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASES: syphilis, gonorrhea, herpes, genital warts
k. Tumor or mass, cancer, liver disorders, hepatitis, thyroid disorders, blood disease, hemophilia, diabetes, skin disorders, infections or any other medical advice, examination not disclosed above
l. Is anyone listed pregnant?
m. Been advised to undergo a surgical operation or procedure within the next 6 months
n. Are you currently taking prescription drugs? If yes, please list.
Then please complete if any were answered yes:
Person treated, Illness/Disorder, Treatment Received, Treatment Dates, Name and Address of Physician.
Then sign an date.
The HR person at his company then told them all to fill them out with their names and sign them and then put them on her desk. After some employees complained, she then said to put them in an envelope and put them on her desk.
My husband and I find this information very intrusive. I am a nurse and I have never been asked such intrusive information for the 20 years that I have been with a group health insurance plan. Both of us refuse to provide this information and he is being pressured by upper management and HR to provide it. Furthermore, the email she sent out says "This is very confidential information and with HIPAA it is most important that you complete this information." (NOW, since when does a regulation like HIPAA require someone to fill out this information....I don't think she understands the full regulation).
I called the Georgia Insurance Commissioner and he advised me that an insurance company would not go so far to ask such detailed, identifiable information. He told me that the employer was asking for this information.
I then called the Employee Benefits Security Administration of the Department of Labor and they told me that this sounds like a violation of the Privacy Act of HIPAA.
I then called the Office of Civil Right of HIPAA with the Dept of Health and Human Services, but they have a message there and I do not want to file a complaint at this point.
I then called the insurance provider we have now and they told me that they would never send out such a detailed questionnaire. They would only send out something more basic.
My understanding is that this information is private and that his employer does not have the right to this information. Can someone please give me some direction. He is going to talk with HR tomorrow and I would like him to go in with some good information, and I don't understand HIPAA and the Privacy Act completely to be able to give him the information he needs.
THANK YOU!!!
All of the following questions must be answered with respect to each person for whom you are applying for coverage. Has anyone listed on this application ever had medical advice, treatment, or do you know or have reasons to know of health problems in regard to the following? Check YES or NO. This information will be used to evaluate medical risk, not eligibility for coverage:
a. NERVOUS - brain disease, stroke, epilepsy, seizures, fainting, dizziness, cerebral palsy, other nervous system disorders.
b. PSYCHIATRIC - psychiatric counseling, marriage counseling, family therapy, addiction to narcotics, barbiturates, amphetamines, or other drug dependency, nervous or mental disorders, alcoholism
c. GENITOURINARY SYSTEM: kidney, prostate, bladder, menstrual or other female disorders
d. MUSCULOSKELETAL: arthritis, rheumatism, bodily deformity, congenital abnormality, ruptured disc, any other muscular disorders
e. CARDIOPULMONARY: high blood pressure, heart disease, circulatory disorders, tuberculosis
f. DIGESTIVE SYSTEM: mouth, ulcers, stomach disease, gallbladder, colon, intestines disease, hernia, rectal disorders
g. EYE, EAR, NOSE, THROAT: asthma, sinus, allergies, disease of nose or ears, disease of throat or tonsils, impairment of sight or hearing
h. INCAPACITATION: physical handicaps, mental retardation, disabled or incapacitated as defined by Medicare.
i. HIV, AIDS, AIDS- related complex, Kaposi Sarcoma, Pneumocystis Carinii Pneumonia, Antibodies to Human T-Lymphotrophic Virus Type III
j. SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASES: syphilis, gonorrhea, herpes, genital warts
k. Tumor or mass, cancer, liver disorders, hepatitis, thyroid disorders, blood disease, hemophilia, diabetes, skin disorders, infections or any other medical advice, examination not disclosed above
l. Is anyone listed pregnant?
m. Been advised to undergo a surgical operation or procedure within the next 6 months
n. Are you currently taking prescription drugs? If yes, please list.
Then please complete if any were answered yes:
Person treated, Illness/Disorder, Treatment Received, Treatment Dates, Name and Address of Physician.
Then sign an date.
The HR person at his company then told them all to fill them out with their names and sign them and then put them on her desk. After some employees complained, she then said to put them in an envelope and put them on her desk.
My husband and I find this information very intrusive. I am a nurse and I have never been asked such intrusive information for the 20 years that I have been with a group health insurance plan. Both of us refuse to provide this information and he is being pressured by upper management and HR to provide it. Furthermore, the email she sent out says "This is very confidential information and with HIPAA it is most important that you complete this information." (NOW, since when does a regulation like HIPAA require someone to fill out this information....I don't think she understands the full regulation).
I called the Georgia Insurance Commissioner and he advised me that an insurance company would not go so far to ask such detailed, identifiable information. He told me that the employer was asking for this information.
I then called the Employee Benefits Security Administration of the Department of Labor and they told me that this sounds like a violation of the Privacy Act of HIPAA.
I then called the Office of Civil Right of HIPAA with the Dept of Health and Human Services, but they have a message there and I do not want to file a complaint at this point.
I then called the insurance provider we have now and they told me that they would never send out such a detailed questionnaire. They would only send out something more basic.
My understanding is that this information is private and that his employer does not have the right to this information. Can someone please give me some direction. He is going to talk with HR tomorrow and I would like him to go in with some good information, and I don't understand HIPAA and the Privacy Act completely to be able to give him the information he needs.
THANK YOU!!!
