Pressured into disclosing potential eating disorder

[itsacat]

I disagree with how my insurance company has now made a note on my child’s record that we are concerned about an eating disorder, when I was simply calling to make a general query regarding our policy.

I contacted my insurance company with a general query regarding my policy, specifically whether eating disorders are covered. This was a hypothetical, general query, as we are far from certain that this is something we will need. At this stage, I just wanted to learn more about the policy. The person I spoke with pressured me to connect this query to a specific child, she was very insistent despite the fact that I said that I did not want this information on my child’s record, as we are not sure if she has any issues yet, and what we would do about it if this were the case, we just wanted to understand our policy. This person would not give up and against my better judgment I ended up telling her which child it was regarding.

I now feel very bad about this. It’s not right that they have made a note on her record regarding such a sensitive issue, when we are just at an exploratory stage. We are far from certain that she has any issues, we are monitoring her a bit at the moment and were simply trying to stay ahead of the curve a bit so that we would know what to do if it turns out there is something to be worried about.

Does anyone know what this could mean for my daughter that her records now incorrectly state that we were concerned about an eating disorder? Will the insurance company share this with her gp? Can I get this removed somehow?

They are of course welcome to keep any records they need once we actually seek help, I just think it’s wrong to have this forever in her medical history just because of today’s phone call (which I can assure you was placed out of an abundance of caution, she is a perfectly healthy child who turned a bit picky with her eating over the past months, I’m just keeping a very close eye)

Thank you in advance

Is this health insurance? Does it have an adverse affect on her policy if its noted down there?

I doubt that they would share it with your GP, but why would it matter if they did? I'm pretty sure that they won't btw, but why would it matter if they did? Are you embarrassed about her potentially having an eating disorder? Her medical records are confidential, what effect on her life would it have? If you are concerned about her having an eating disorder, seek help sooner rather than later. My teenage niece has an eating disorder, and referral onto specialist services was very quick when we took her to the GP, but I so regret not fully raising my concerns about her eating sooner. Eating disorders have increased greatly since lockdown, and waiting lists are increasing.

I don’t think this will be on her medical records, so they won’t contact GP etc.

But it will be on the insurance company’s records so it could well affect further cover/claims in the future, as they may class it as a pre-existing condition.

I totally agree that it’s important to see help as soon as possible if an eating disorder is suspected but we are so far away from that at this point, it just isn’t accurate to make a note on her record to the effect that an eating disorder is suspected. That’s what bothers me. It might skew further contacts with the insurance company and health care providers if this should come up and create confusion. For example we discussed another issue as well and I don’t mind that they made a note of that even if I wasn’t seeking advice for it at this point, as she does have a diagnosis for that,

Sorry, that wasn’t very well written but I hope you get the idea!

I'm sorry but if you call an insurance company with a hypothetical, they know from experience that it's not actually hypothetical! People only ask when something has happened or likely to happen. They won't share with the GP, why would they? Unless you have somehow consented to this. I doubt it would affect your insurance cover either as there is no diagnosis and no side effects at this stage, so it's not a pre existing condition.
What they do need to know is, if something is diagnosed, when symptoms started and that is why they were asking as plenty people will wait if they have a policy limit per year or an excess per year etc they will wait and claim symptoms started when its convenient for them to do so and lie about dates to get the best financial outcome for them.
Also if she did get diagnosed even if it wasnt covered they would still need to know becsude ED can be linked to other issues and it then may affect a claim for subsequent other issues if it was linked.
I would leave it at this stage. Concentrate on your daughter. If she does get a diagnosis you would have to tell them anyway. If you rule it out and want it off her records I'd then call them and say it was a false alarm it was investigated and was just a normal childhood phase of fussy eating and Ed's have been ruled out

Do a SAR and find out exactly what’s been recorded. Then if it’s incorrect tell them they need to correct it as records must be accurate under GDPR. There are very strict rules on recording data like this.

How can she tell you if it's covered if you don't tell her what the situation is?

So to be blunt, what makes you concerned that she has an eating disorder, and what makes you fairly sure that she doesn't?

Have you talked to your daughter about it?

If your insurance is current and ongoing, it won't be down as pre- existing as long as the symptoms started after the policy did. Records are not shared with gps and insurance companies don't gave access to her medical records. There'll just be a note on her policy. This means if you do need to look at therapy, you shouldn't need to go through all the questions again as the info will be on the system.

If you're concerned enough about your child's eating the you've called to see if it's covered by insurance I suggest that you need to speak to the GP.

But it’s not incorrect…you do suspect an eating disorder. You shouldn’t have mentioned it, but they will keep it on record especially if she is later diagnosed with an ED and you try to claim that it started later.

@RedDeadRoach I actually called about the diagnosis that dd does have. I wanted to find out if the referral we have would be covered by them, the answer was no. I then asked about eating disorders, as a parallel to my first question. Occasionally eating disorders can develop in children with dd’s psychological profile, hence my question. Would they view this as a separate matter, which means it would be covered, or as connected to her previous diagnosis, in which case it wouldn’t be covered? This is how the discussion started.

I don’t have any strong or specific concerns regarding eating disorders at this stage but I am always very vigilant, for various reasons. I hope it’s ok if I don’t go into detail, it’s mainly a new tendency towards picky eating which I am keeping an eye on.

I feel it was premature of the advisor to make a note of it, to the effect that I had expressed concerns. I asked why it was necessary and she said she was obligated to make a note of everything which was discussed. She said the only people who would be able to access this information was dd’s gp and the nhs.

We are new to this insurance company, hence my call. I’m also new to mental health issues, I was not aware that anything which is classed as a developmental issue is not covered. I feel it should be ok to have a general discussion about your coverage without things going on any record

Lesson learnt

@P0pc0rn

So to be blunt, what makes you concerned that she has an eating disorder, and what makes you fairly sure that she doesn't?

Have you talked to your daughter about it?

I have spoken to her psychologist about it. There are no strong concerns at present

I didn't think British insurance companies routinely informed GPs or NHS about anything... they wouldn't be allowed to under GDPR. Only if there were an immediate safe-guarding or criminal activity concern.

They can’t and won’t share anything with your child’s GP. All it will be is a note on their system that you made an enquiry, if you need to claim related to that in future they’ll already have something set up. If you don’t it’ll just stay as it is. It won’t impact anything else.

Than you @ragged @roominmyhouse and everyone else who has posted, very helpful