Confidential Communications with Health Insurance Carriers: Guide for Advocates and Providers

If someone is insured as a dependent on another’s health insurance policy—for example a partner or parent’s—health insurance carriers may send the policyholder information about the insured dependent’s healthcare visits, usually in the form of an explanation of benefits. This practice is highly problematic for domestic violence victims insured on an abusive partner’s policy, or minor and adult children insured on a parent’s health insurance policy.
Federal law gives individuals the right to request confidential communications with their health insurance carrier. When a confidential communications request is in place, the insurance carrier sends all private health information to an alternative address or location chosen by the individual, rather than to the policyholder’s address.
Insurance carriers must accept a confidential communications request if the requesting individual states that disclosing their health information to anyone but them could put them in danger.
Most individuals do not know that they have the right to request confidential communications

Advocacy, Medical Response Advocates, Medical Providers Minnesota

Last modified: 7/7/2022