Does the Insurance Company Really Need Your Health History After an Accident?
You’ve suffered an injury because of someone else’s mistake—while this is a stressful and painful time, at least you’re in good company. Millions of people are injured every single year in car accidents, slip and fall accidents, and other unexpected incidents. If you’re entitled to compensation, you’ll have to deal with the other party’s insurance company. It’s not uncommon for them to ask you for access to your full health history. However, agreeing to this may not be in your best interests. Let the team at Pisegna & Zimmerman advocate for you and help you pursue compensation. Give us a call at 818-888-8888 to get started. With our Zoom-ready team and DocuSign document management, you don’t even have to leave your Southern California home to start your claim.
There are some legitimate reasons that an insurance company may want certain medical records. If you’re requesting compensation for your medical expenses, the insurance company wants to know that they’re getting what they pay for. They may use your medical records to verify that your injuries are accident-related and that you are cooperating with your care team’s treatment plan. Still, this does not mean you need to give them full and unfettered access to your medical records.
Remember the Insurance Company’s Goals
Before you comply with anything the other party’s insurance company asks you for, keep their goals in mind. More importantly, remember that their goals are directly contrary to yours. You want a fair settlement for the personal injuries you have suffered. They want to pay as little as possible to protect their profit margins. Anything they ask you for is in line with those goals. Instead of assuming that your information will always be used appropriately and ethically, try to think about it from the point of view of an insurance adjuster.
Consider the Information in Your Health History
It’s also crucial to think critically about the information in your health history. It’s not just your accident-related health history. It’s everything you’ve ever received care for. Most people wouldn’t let their closest loved ones access that information, much less a complete stranger. This isn’t to say that the insurance company will intentionally leak your information. However, unintentional data leaks and hacking incidents do happen. The more freely you share your personal data, the more likely it is that your information will get caught up in a data leak. This information is only needed by you and your healthcare team. Anyone else who needs information can receive it on a need-to-know basis.
Your Health Information Could Be Misused
One of the main reasons to hold off on providing access to your health history is the multitude of ways an insurance company may use it against you. Once they’ve gotten their hands on your records, expect them to go through them in excruciating detail. They’re hoping to find something else to pin your current injuries on. You suffered a serious back injury in a car accident caused by their client? They’ll go back to a years-old back injury for which you received physical therapy and claim that it’s the cause for your current pain—not the much more recent and much more forceful car accident. If you have a complicated health history with a range of diagnoses and injuries, don’t be surprised if the insurance company tries to paint you as a hypochondriac. They will go to great lengths to protect their company’s money.
Talk to Your Personal Injury Lawyer Before Signing Anything
This is one of the main reasons you should have a Southern California personal injury attorney before you communicate with the insurance company. Your personal injury attorney will have your best interests in mind when the insurance company is angling for ways to save their company money. The sooner you talk to a personal injury lawyer during your claim, the less time you have to harm your case by unintentionally saying the wrong thing to the insurance company or signing something you shouldn’t. Your personal injury lawyer can ensure that the insurance company gets the medical records they need without getting unlimited access to your health history.
Ready to Start Your Personal Injury Claim? Contact Pisegna & Zimmerman Today
At Pisegna & Zimmerman, we fight for what our clients deserve. We know how stressful this time can be, and our goal is to make it as easy as possible for you. Schedule your Zoom consultation with our team, and know that you don’t even have to come into our office to sign documents—we’ll handle everything over DocuSign. Get started now by calling us at 818-888-8888 or contacting us online.
William Zimmerman is an experienced Los Angeles work injury attorney at Pisegna & Zimmerman. He offers invaluable advice and assistance when dealing with the often complicated workers’ compensation system. As part of Pisgena & Zimmerman, he and his team are a full-service law firm that is dedicated to obtaining the maximum amount of compensation from all available sources.