1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

Medical Records and the Creation of 2nd Class Citizens...

Discussion in 'Fred's House of Pancakes' started by Mystery Squid, Sep 13, 2006.

  1. Mystery Squid

    Mystery Squid Junior Member

    Joined:
    May 18, 2005
    2
    3
    0
    Thinking about this the other day:

    Long and short of it:

    At what point, do you think THEY will be factoring in health issues into instruments such as mortgages for people of all ages...

    Imagine being turned down for a 30 year mortgage when you're 28 years old because some lender ran a life expectancy report of sorts on you, and determined you'd likely be dead in 10 years or less...

    Think of the implications... I don't even want to see a Dr. these days as medical records will be generated, and, should there be any negative results, might (WILL) be used against me in the future some day to some extent greater than our expectations today....

    I'm ok with financial "bureaus", but medical????? It goes too far.

    :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry:
     
    #1 Mystery Squid, Sep 13, 2006
  2. tomdeimos

    tomdeimos New Member

    Joined:
    Feb 16, 2004
    995
    2
    0
    Location:
    Lexington, MA
    Seems to me it makes much more sense to deny you a mortgage or increase your car insurance rate because you are defective than to do it through financial bureaus because your neigbors are.
     
    #2 tomdeimos, Sep 13, 2006
  3. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
    Staff Member

    Joined:
    Nov 26, 2003
    19,891
    1,192
    9
    Location:
    Nixa, MO
    Vehicle:
    2004 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Are you refering to some particular article or incident? Or just getting angry at idle speculation.

    AFAIK your medical records are still private and can only be accessed by people/entities to whom you give permission. When you sign up for health insurance the fine print gives them that right. But even with life insurance they don't access your permanant medical records...they may have you complete a health questionaire and may insist on doing some of their own lab testing/screening, but I've never had anyone ask to see my permanant medical records when applying for life insurance. And certainly not for any kind of loan.

    And let me add, most of the time the mortgage companies don't care if you die or not...they'll get their money either from your estate or by assuming the mortgage and selling the property to someone else. They make the loan decisions upon your credit and financial status and couldn't care less if you live or die.
     
    #3 efusco, Sep 13, 2006
  4. galaxee

    galaxee mostly benevolent

    Joined:
    Mar 14, 2005
    9,810
    465
    0
    Location:
    MD
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    hipaa is pretty hardcore, even as a grad student affiliated with the med center and having nothing to do with clinical anything, i have to take a yearly compliance training course online. they make the penalties for violations very steep around here.

    that said i'm very cautious about what i say and who i say it to regarding my own health. partially because i don't want to be judged or labeled (i guess i should say potentially judged or labeled since i don't know yet), and partially because some people have big mouths.
     
    #4 galaxee, Sep 13, 2006
  5. Mystery Squid

    Mystery Squid Junior Member

    Joined:
    May 18, 2005
    2
    3
    0
    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(efusco @ Sep 13 2006, 11:58 AM) [snapback]318944[/snapback]</div>
    I'm just angry at idle speculation (as in most cases!! :lol: ).

    I'm just highly concerned about where this is going... Recently, I've heard of a rather dark concept of various dark non-insurance firms who generate "life expectancy reports" which are attached to various forms of arbitrage financing... dark, VERY dark stuff, IMHO...

    It's where this is going that really irks me. At some point, citizens will have these dark concepts pro-actively thrust upon us by various forces... It's just dark, very, very, very, DARK.... I just don't like where this is going at all...

    Picture, if you will, before you are even born (or heck a report based upon your respective genetic profiles before even having sex), a report is generated that gives you a x% chance of living to age x. If you're not born "perfect", you can expect to live in various levels of "death ghettos" because you can't get a mortgage, discouraged from marrying anyone who is "clean", as it will drag down their social/financial position, and ultimately, effectively, cleanse the human race of "undesirables"....

    I joke not.... :ph34r:

    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(galaxee @ Sep 13 2006, 12:09 PM) [snapback]318952[/snapback]</div>
    "YOU DAMN RIGHT!" As Samuel Jackson would yell...

    Seriously, I don't even want to see a Dr. for a physical because of this sort of thing... In the long run, it might just be better to travel to a foreign country... This is getting waaaaaay out of hand...

    I mean what next? Oh, sorry, we can't offer you this position, as the life expectancy report says you're only likely to live to 45, and given the rate of career changes, we anticipate a likelyhood of 3 years of employment. However, we can offer you a lesser position pulling weeds on a reduced salary basis....
     
    #5 Mystery Squid, Sep 13, 2006
  6. tomdeimos

    tomdeimos New Member

    Joined:
    Feb 16, 2004
    995
    2
    0
    Location:
    Lexington, MA
    If you're really bothered, be sure to check out the movie: "Gattaca" to see where this is headed.
     
    #6 tomdeimos, Sep 13, 2006
  7. airportkid

    airportkid Will Fly For Food

    Joined:
    Sep 2, 2005
    2,191
    538
    0
    Location:
    San Francisco Bay Area CA
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Squid, I confess I'm a little confused. Haven't you been strongly advocating unrestricted and secret government access to everyone's data? You actively encourage the DEA, FBI, DoD, ATF, CIA, NSA, IRS, TSA, DHS and other alphabets of gov't intrusiveness no one's even heard of yet to station men in every room of your house, tail you at work, accompany you everywhere you go and monitor all your transactions, but you draw the line at corporations having their man watching you because you're afraid what HE sees might cause you some inconvenience?

    Wow.
     
    #7 airportkid, Sep 13, 2006
(You must log in or sign up to post here.)