When applying for private insurance does telling wife of spouse’s medical hx without his consent violate law?

March 16, 2010 admin 5 comments

I was applying for private medical insurance and got the 2000 questions by the insurance company. All of this was on the phone. No written consents. My husband never even talked to them. They pulled up his medical history somehow on the Web and gave me all the details asking if I was aware of why he recieved certain treatments. One treatment involved shingles and he was prescribed Valtrex. This same drug also treats genital herpes. I knew why he was prescribed this medication, but if I had not, and if it was for genital herpes, it would have been quite a shock for me considering this prescription was 5 years after we were married. My question is are they violating HIPAA and do I need to file a complaint? It makes me very uncomfortable to work with this company after this.
My husband actually did not know I was applying for new coverage. I currently cover our family and was getting quotes from other companies. He never signed anything, never talked to anyone, nothing. The thing that bothers me is if this was reversed and my husband was the insurance prividor in our family and he decided to shop around. I have not had an abortion, but what if I had even before we were married or after and had not told him, but they disclosed this to him without my consent. Same thing, but backwards. Makes you think about who has our medical records and what they can do with them and how little control you have over them.

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Written by Julie about 2 years ago.

They should NOT have given you that information without his consent. I would complain. That is outrageous.
Written by 6.5 x 284 about 2 years ago.

I would think it violates some kind of clause without his consent or knowledge..sounds like they were double checking on his answers..something they really shouldnt be doing but they play by their own set of rules….
Written by Phill Lee about 2 years ago.

When you applied for the insurance, you signed a form giving them the right to check your medical history. It is part of the application. Check the fine print. However they had no right to discuss his medical history with you without his written consent. So that part is against the law.
Written by Jeffrey P about 2 years ago.

It certainly sounds like board-line behavior. However, he may have given permission for this kind of information sharing when he signed up for the insurance. He may not have known he did it, but it wouldn’t be surprising that he signed off on a release without knowing it.
Written by sweet sweet jane about 2 years ago.

Typically, HIPAA violations only occur when info is shared with an outside or 3rd party source. Since you are the spouse, you are considered the patients caregiver when acting on his behalf. If they have your name and pertinent info on file, which they would most likely have gotten in all this time, you are allowed to act on his behalf. If, however, he did not consent to you viewing this info, he would have to send a letter to the company directing them to not give out this info to the following persons, etc. It is usually a specific letter that must be completed. Just as you can pick up meds for him at the pharmacy, you can know basic information about his meds over the phone. If, however, the IC was just telling you about his meds, and the call did not pertain to the business at hand, then yes, that is a violation. You can discuss, say, his particular med and if it is covered, but he can’t just spout out all of the meds your hubby is taking for no reason. If this was for insurance purposes, however, he was probably within the guidelines to discuss all meds. Just as, at the pharmacy I can discuss your husbands med that is being ordered, tell you all about it and what it is used for, but I can’t tell you what he ordered last month or what his ongoing meds are. Hope that helps!

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When applying for private insurance does telling wife of spouse’s medical hx without his consent violate law?

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