Most Americans are aware of HIPPA regulations and the fact that our medical records are protected by law as private. A person or corporation needs a medical authorization to gain access to a medical record.
Injury claims – why does the insurance company get a medical authorization?
Insurance companies will almost always request a blanket medical authorization when evaluating your injury claim. If you sign a blanket authorization, the carrier will request ALL of your medical records, going back many years, even for treatment that has nothing to do with your claim. This is an insurance defense tactic to shame, embarrass, and harass injury victims.
Attempting to leverage confidential medical information by rummaging around in personal medical history is just one of many tricks used by insurance adjusters, whose goal is to devalue your claim and save money. Your medical records contain very personal, private details about your life, information you would not want revealed to anyone, much less an insurance company.
Limited medical authorizations
The law permits an injured person or an injury lawyer to restrict access to records that are not related to the injury at issue in the lawsuit. At Rittgers, we do NOT allow insurance companies to obtain blanket medical authorizations. We will obtain your records (using an authorization signed by you allowing us to get them) and personally review your records before sending them to the insurance adjuster and we will be careful not to unnecessarily reveal your private unrelated medical history. Furthermore, we will give limited medical authorizations to insurance companies. Limited both in subject matter and in time.
Navigating the complexities of insurance claim against a company whose sole mission is to save themselves money is not easy. At Rittgers, we will help you through this difficult process while at same time protecting all of your rights with the goal of obtaining a fair settlement.