With the digital transfer of information from things like your credit cards and purchase histories, highly powerful insurance conglomerates have been able to gather information with more ease than ever before. What follows is a list of the ways these corporate giants are able to access your personal information, which then often plays a significant role in the composure of your life insurance plan.
Prescription Drug Histories
Take, for example, ExamOne and Milliman IntelliScript, both of which are able to piece together prescription claims data from pharmacies all over the world. After unearthing the information, these companies then sell the information to the insurance companies. According to Milliman, they are able to deliver a patient report within literal seconds, giving the insurance company in question access to the drug name, the dosage, the fill date, the pharmacy, and even the physician who prescribed said narcotic.
What’s interesting is that this method of retrieving what insurance companies perceive to be vital information has only emerged as a trend in the past decade, considering that over ten years ago the technological capability just wasn’t there.
Driving Record
Yet another vastly personal aspect to many individuals’ lives, a driving record can hold tremendous sway over the ultimate price of your insurance policy. Specifically, driving while intoxicated or other reckless driving convictions can make it very hard to attain a reasonable policy. Yet, it is not just DUI’s and reckless driving convictions that play a role here. Even simple moving violations, like say, an abundance of speeding tickets, can negatively influence the process.
Your Permission
Perhaps the most intriguing, and ironic, aspect of this entire data collection process is the fact that when you sign your life insurance application, you are actually granting life insurance companies legal access to conduct the above informational gathering techniques. So, even though the information is vastly personal, you are, in the end, responsible for the discovery of whatever information you may or may not want to keep under wraps. The process abides by prominent widespread legislation like the privacy laws of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, aka HIPAA. Just as well, the Fair Credit Reporting Act also specifically distinguishes said potentially questionable practices as completely legal.
While life insurance is a vital component for attaining and retaining proper peace of mind, contemporary consumers should understand what they are getting themselves into. If there’s something you’d prefer others to remain ignorant of, perhaps it’s best to a give a second thought to signing that life insurance application. After all, once you give your permission, the life insurance companies in question have your consent to act as they will in order to collect whatever information they deem necessary.