Your Medical Treatment History Is For Sale 607
PizzaFace writes "The Washington Post reports on the booming business of selling your medical treatment records. Today these are mainly records of your prescriptions, but the data warehouses will soon have records of your lab tests, too. The companies selling these records make it easy for insurance companies to avoid risk by assigning each person a health score, similar to a credit score, or by flagging items in each person's history that suggest chronic or potentially expensive health problems. It's not just for insurers, either; employers who check applicants' credit scores will surely be interested in their health scores as well."
Re:This is stupid (Score:3, Funny)
No, it is your fault, you liberal hippie. If you would stop being lazy, you could get your physician's license and cure your own problems instead of depending on others to help you. Ron Paul 4ever!
Re:Ughh (Score:1, Funny)
Is it too much to ask for you to spell GETS properly? You know, the letter s doesn't need special protection from the other letters, as a matter of fact it wants to be closer to them.
Re:Health care, what health care? (Score:3, Funny)
Have you considered immigration to Canada as an alternative treatment method?
Re:Health care, what health care? (Score:4, Funny)
Even people in good health would really rather not let additional people know they had a vasectemy, eh?
Are you kidding? I wish the doctor's office gave me a t-shirt and a tattoo to advertise that my baby batter has been replaced with "I Can't Believe It's Not Sperm".
Re:This is stupid (Score:4, Funny)
Nothing wrong with a little selective breading. Make that part of the insurance policy. We'll treat you for your known, genetic conditions that will most likely be passed on to any children, if you agree to be sterilized. It's either that or start repopulating major cities with large carnivors to take care of the slow and the week.
It would take care of the obsesity problem and protect endangered species all at the same time!
Re:Health care, what health care? (Score:4, Funny)
[citation needed]
Re:This is stupid (Score:3, Funny)
It's either that or start repopulating major cities with large carnivors to take care of the slow and the week...it would take care of the obsesity problem
Good idea. I propose we begin the mass euthanization by getting rid of the societal dead weight who confuse simple homonyms and can't spell.
Re:Health care, what health care? (Score:2, Funny)
I use fake information and pay cash for medical care, so this problem doesn't affect me.
I tried to explain this methodology to my friends who all say I'm a paranoid moron, but then I guess they really believe laws protect you before the problem happens, rather than just theoretically "punish" the offender later.
I started several years ago being secretive of my medical procedures and using an alternative to the "health insurance" or "national healthcare" scams being pulled on Americans. It is obvious that, at some point, those who demand someone else pay for their health issues will have enough voting power to force a national healthcare agenda, which will immediately lead to rationing or denial of care, because it simply isn't affordable.
As I have no interest in paying insurance companies for nothing, nor having insurance companies or a government medical bureaucracy denying me care because of something that happened 15 years earlier that lowers my "score" of who should get care or not.
Of course I'm Mr. Paranoid because that would NEVER OCCUR.
I've always hated insurance companies. Basically they take advantage of how scared you are, take your premiums, invest it for big profits, and deny you as much as they can or give you some crap level of care. This, of course, is all based on the idea that if you don't have insurance, you will immediately get killed by a rabid ebola virus with AIDS and Down's syndrome which can only be cured with Lorenzo's Oil which, of course, they don't cover, but your heirs will find that out for themselves.
My method was pretty simple.
I analyzed about what I wanted to spend per year on glasses, dentistry, checkups, etc. I increased this amount by 50% should something above and beyond occur, such as a cavity, broken arm, etc.
I divided that amount by my income increments (paychecks, etc).
Every paycheck increment, I would have that portion directed into Treasury Notes or I Bonds, accessible for free at http://treasurydirect.gov/ [treasurydirect.gov]
If I need medical care, and it costs more than I have on hand (which it rarely does), I simply withdrawl the appropriate amount
When getting medical care, I always pay cash, and I don't use real information. I request a random number for the social security information citing "identity theft" as a reason. The rare time they have a problem with me not giving them tons of identification for health care, I just go somewhere else, as it's not as if I HAVE to go to an IN NETWORK doctor. I've found most doctors not only love that I pay in actual cash, but I get a much higher level of care, at a cheaper cost, than "insured" patients.
If I don't have any bizarre medical care requirements for a given year, which like most people I don't, I keep all the money, not end up losing it all to the insurance company. That gives me that much more building my "insurance" for health care. If I desperately need the money for something else, it's all mine, and has been generating investment interest.
By putting away a little bit of a paycheck each time, I now have thousands of dollars for whatever level of health care I want, and it covers ANYTHING I want. Cat needs a sex change? Here's the money. Need hooker massage therapy in Thailand? Here's your money honey. Me insure you long time.
But you go ahead and put your faith in government, insurance companies, and employer plans that drain your potential paycheck. That's a MUCH better option. Why make medical decisions between yourself and your doctor? A politician pandering to you will make the best medical choice. An insurance company interested in it's own stock price will certainly know which medications you require. Give into your fears that a healthy 20-something needs alzheimers and smoking cessation treatment programs whether you want to pay for it or not through the health plan that they decide you need.
Keep filling our the forms listing every known or suspected medical problem you have, because future employers, politicians, and beurocrats would never use that info against you in any way as part of your "permanent record" and "Health Score".
Re:Health care, what health care? (Score:4, Funny)
My grandma was a werewolf, and colloidal silver *killed* her, you insensitive clod.