!! Medical Information Bureau

If you have never applied for life insurance, you are probable not in their data base. I wrote them and they said they had no record of me. But it is scary that people like this exist. If you work for other people (are not self employed), you should check to see what is in you file with these people. You don't want to get turned down for a job or life insurance in the future because of some computer data base error in a database you have never herd off.

Medical Information Bureau (MIB)
PO BOX 105, Essex Station
Boston, MA 02112
617-426-3660


http://www.mib.com/html/us_residents.html

 

I sent for my record a few weeks ago and unfortunately it came back to me because I forgot to include the expiration of the credit card I was using to pay for the report. I've now resent the form and will let you know what it's all about when I get my report.

Mist

 

MIB only serves the insurance industry. I posted some info about them a while back. Do a search for the terms "MIB" and "medical information bureau" and you will get the posts. Use the quote marks or you will get a lot of irrelevant stuff.

This agency has been around forever, and is very careful. They aren't just out there selling medical info on people. No employer or creditor can gt your info. It's only when you apply for life or health insurance that this database is accessed, and you are notified first (part of the application).

 

I'm feeling generous tonight - here's the link. BTW, did anyone who checked their MIB file ever report back? Did anyone get anything? Just curious.

http://consumers.creditnet.com/stra...p?s=&postid=132298&highlight="MIB"#post132298

 

yes I got mine back. No file found.

I've been to the emergency room several times, broken arms/ had stitches, had a car accident. Nothing.

I was later told it would report major issues: heart, diabetes etc.

 

This would make sense to me. Major health issues such as heart disease, diabetes and cancer do affect not only your rates for insurance but are also a concern when treating for other medical problems.

 

Thanks, Marie! Anybody else?

Incidentally the law I mentioned in my old post about medical info being accessed without your permission is in process now. Call me paranoid, but this law is not in the best interests of the consumer.

We will no longer have the option of allowing or refusing access to our medical records. This is all under the guise of better patient care. It falls in the same category as deregulation - consumer spin, but big business benefits at the expense of the consumer.

MIB is necessary, and they handle this information responsibly. The new information services that are about to pop up on the horizon will be something else.

 

yes I got mine back to. No file found.

 

Breeze, I agree with you. I read about these coming regulations that almost anyone can access our medical care (soon) - it almost made my cry. It is such a slap in the face to consumers. What right is it for our employer, our creditors, or our government to know if we are ill and why. It is absoutely none of their business. Do you know the kind of discrimination we will see with those who have cancer, diabetes, or AIDS. It saddens me that not only are we are based on our credit history, but soon our personal medical history!

Please, please, please if you have not written your federal representatives do so. It is so important that these regulations do not take place. We, as consumers, deserve our privacy.

Dani

 

What guarantee do I have that this will be true in the future?

 

Nothing guarantees anything for the future, Eric. That's life. Unfortunately, you can't opt out.

 

One can but it may not get the desired results!

 

First of all, thanks for posting this topic as this is important to me at the present time.
I have some questions for breeze or anybody that can answer:

From whom does MIB get it's data from - the insurance co.s or the doctors or both?

I am going to get tested for hypertension and diabetes. What would be the best way for me to stay under MIB's radar? This is especially important to me since i am thinking of becoming self-employed and don't want to be denied individual health insurance if the tests turn out to be positive.

 

MIB gets info from doctors, insurance companies, hospitals, clinics - almost all providers and insurance companies.

The best way to keep this off your record would be to use a pseudonym, see a doctor you've never seen before, in a different city, and pay cash.

However, for individual health insurance, a medical exam would be ordered - the nurse comes to your house and gives you a little check-up. The urinalysis would tell them if you were taking any medications. Hard to fool these guys. Also, if you lie on your application, the contract is void, so they would not have to pay your claims if they find out that you weren't truthful, and many states now allow the company to prosecute for fraud.

It would be better to get your health insurance as part of a group, where no medical questiobs are asked. Look around for an association or some other group that offers group health insurance, that you could join. It would be worth a membership fee.

 

Breeze

As I recall, every time I have to fill out the paperwork at a new medical facility, I ask what they do with the information and they assure me that no information can be released without me signing some special release form. Is this not true?

 

If you ask for your file and they dont have one on you, do you get your $9.00 back?

 

Breeze,
thank you for your reply.

Iam skeptical this would work, since every time I went to a doctor they have required me to give them my Social Security Number and also they wanted to see my driver's license.
I never understood why they wanted all this information, now I do.
Can I refuse to give this info? Can they deny me treatment because of this?

Breeze, i have done some research into this and from what i found, the so called group insurance offered by associations such as NASE( National Association of Self Employed) and the chamber of commerce etc. are not really the kind of group ins. that you would find with an employer, instead they are fronts for rip-off insurance co.s offering policies with high premiums and few benefits.
I would be grateful if you could point me in the direction of a group or association at the national level or in my state, texas that offers decent group health insurance.

 

On another note, if anyone here is under the impression that MIB only collects and reports medical information, according to the information i found on their website:

There are also five codes for reporting
non-medical information that might affect insurability. Examples of non-medical information significant enough to warrant a report to MIB
include an adverse driving record, participation in hazardous sports and aviation activity.

So. the bad drivers, sky-divers and flying enthusiasts among you, watch out!!

 

Info is sent to MIB without your permission. Always has been - just like your property insurance claims are reported to CLUE, and your tickets and accidents are reported to DMV without your permission.

If this new legislation is passed, no one will have to ask your permission to release your medical info to anyone else. I think it will reach the point where it will be like "permissible purpose" obtaining your credit report - it's permissible if they pay for it and you don't sue them.

Just to feed your paranoia, LOL. there is also ISO, an insurance service organization that determines the rates for your homeowners or fire insurance. They rate neighborhoods and fire departments and all sorts of things that are considered risk factors for property insurance. And your homeowner's company can come out and take pictures of your house without your permission.

Any insurance company you have ever dealt with (well, since computers and databases replaced card files) has your info - if you have applied for a policy, held a policy, been insured on someone else's policy, or filed a claim against one of their insureds. There's databases for everything - even one for what you purchase and where you shop (the little valued customer cards at the grocery store).

And you should see what they track about you on the internet.

There, that should keep you awake for a few nights.