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To begin, let's get a definition of what a medical authorization/release means. Medical release forms give insurance companies the complete ability to obtain any type of information that is related to your medical and health history. This can potentially be harmful due to the fact that this allows an insurance company to go searching deep in your medical history. This means that the insurance company can access all of your health records going back to when you were born. For instance, if you broke a leg over twenty years ago, take sleep medication, or even had a visit to the chiropractor several months before the wreck, it is possible that the insurance company can find out.
Why is the Insurance Company Wanting to Access My Medical Records?
An insurance company and its adjusters want to go looking through your health and medical records because they want to find any medical evidence that can give them a reasonable excuse to give you a less amount of money to you for your accident or injury claim. Medical records that hold information that may possibly be embarrassing or secret can be used against you in a personal injury claim. Even if that information has absolutely nothing to do with your present injury, the insurance company is allowed to use it if - and only if - you sign a medical release or authorization form.
Know the Strategies and Schemes Used by Insurance Adjusters
In order for you to sign a medical authorization form, an insurance adjuster will try to use any technique to convince or persuade you to do so because they know if you knew what you were signing, you probably would not sign it at all. This is why it is important to be careful of the wolf dressed in the clothes of sheep, as they say. An insurance adjuster will say that they will take great care of absolutely all of the claims process and that they are working for your benefit. They will try to tell you that you will save lots of money and time - everything that they need would be your medical records and bills, and that signing the medical release or authorization will advance the claim and will help in completing it. Do NOT believe them!
At the end of the day, why should an insurance company have access to your medical and health records? Insurance companies do NOT need to have all of your records and information to complete a claim!