Begin forwarded message: From: Michael Kende <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: August 9, 2006 11:36:03 AM EDT To: [EMAIL PROTECTED], "M. Sean Fosmire" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: RE: [IP] more on tracking old money This is great advice. My insurance company once declined a large number of old claims, and when I appealed and asked for the documents they said that they were not allowed to send the full copies of the bills to me because of HIPAA requirements. They gave a lot of ridiculous reasons why HIPAA forbid them from sending me my own medical bills, but I asked them to cite the specific passage in HIPAA and they kept saying that somebody would get back to me with that. In the end they just waived the claims (not related to their inability to find the HIPAA requirements, of course), and never did get back to me on the HIPAA issue. I believe that it starts with general officiousness on the part of the employees, coinciding in this case with their desire to get the claims back, and fostered by the fact that very few people must bother to push back. Michael -----Original Message----- From: David Farber [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, August 09, 2006 8:04 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [IP] more on tracking old money Begin forwarded message: From: "M. Sean Fosmire" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: August 9, 2006 7:44:10 AM EDT To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [IP] tracking old money Here is an exercise for you. The next time someone demands that you disclose private information because "the law requires it", ask them for a citation to the statute or regulation that requires it. Ninety- eight percent of them time they will be unable to respond. Tell them that you will answer when they can give you the citation (and after you have had a chance to check it). In a large number of cases, there is no such requirement. Companies often claim that "the law requires" that you do something that they simply want you to do. And even if the request is made in good faith, it is often the case that someone has misinterpreted a legal requirement somewhere. ------------------------------------- You are subscribed as [EMAIL PROTECTED] To manage your subscription, go to http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/ ------------------------------------- You are subscribed as [email protected] To manage your subscription, go to http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/
