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madcountymusic
August 13, 2009
violation of HIPAA laws
Wife called Humana to ask questions about health insurance rates, etc. I recieved a message 2 days later from Joshua an underwriter wanting me to call him back. I called back, and after going through 3 peopole who wanted to know my policy #, I finally reached him. What about "I do not have a policy with your company" is so hard to understand. I was cut off while on hold twice as well. I finally reached Josh, the underwriter, he begin to name off Medications I was on 5 years ago and wanted to know what my exact diagnosis was to be on the medication. Well actually he told me that the medication was for depression and also for anxiety and that he needed to know which I had been diagnosed with. Well my reply was that it was to help me stay calm while dealing with people like him who pull my medical records without authorization. I checked with my wife and she had signed nothing allowing them to view my medical records. I was unaware of everything except for the fact that Josh had left me a message and I was returning his call. I then called back and asked for a supervisor and told him the situation and how I was unhappy that my medical records where pulled without me authorizing it. As well, Joshua never verified who I was other than the fact that I told him my name when I called. The supervisor told me they had every right to pull my medical records because my wife had requested rates. I told him shouldn't I have at least been notified or at least got a call to make sure my wife and I were still living together. His was response was that they are not required to do that, and even said that they would just charge my wife with insurance fraud. The part that got me the most was when the supervisor told me that they had a system that pulled up the persons information who was calling based on the phone #, so they could tell if the call was the person they said they were. So I asked him what # I was calling from. He gave me my wife's # . Funny, I was calling from my work phone with my wife 20 miles away. I guess he thought because I have a southern accent that I'm stupid enough to believe something like that from him. With all this said, I just want people to be aware that Humana basically does what they want how they want. Even after all this, the supervisor tried to convince me to buy the policy...I told him he must be out of his mind. They seem to find the path of least resistance to stay legal instead of making any kind of effort to ensure the privacy of thier customers. I will stick with Blue Cross Blue Shield.
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