A rock and a hard place? Ministry of Defence | Defence News | MOD confirms loss of recruitment data

[James Cox]

On 19 Feb 2008, at 08:49, Roland Perry wrote:

> In article <47B9B084.8090506@defoam.net>, "Dr Adrian Midgley (In the  
> office)" <amidgley2@defoam.net> writes
>>> Is it generally possible to be a patient in the USA and not reveal  
>>> your  address, though? The system of paying for treatment via  
>>> insurance  companies probably has the side effect that the  
>>> hospital wants to be  able to collect the bill if for some reason  
>>> the insurance company  refuses to pay.
>>
>> A system could be consturcted by competent cryptographers and  
>> privacy activists, could it not, which allowed it to be.
>>
>> Alternatively, poste restante and accomodation addresses are used  
>> in some circumstances, as is the address of the general practice.
>
> A suppose you could construct a system of authoritative proxies, but  
> it would need to be well recognised in order to get past the minimum- 
> wage finance-clerk-with-clipboard that you need to get past before  
> they'll even discuss medical issues with you.
>
> This is not just a USA thing - I've had a procedure in the UK at a  
> private hospital that even though covered by my employer's private  
> medical insurance at the time, and had been checked over the phone  
> by the hospital, they *still* wouldn't do it unless I gave them  
> credit card details "in case the insurance people didn't in fact  
> pay". This is a luxury that private hospitals appear to have: "if  
> you don't want to play ball, there's an NHS waiting list over there;  
> and close the door as you leave, please".

Seems fairly reasonable. Though, when a transplant (as an example of  
an extreme procedure) can cost upwards of $500,000, not so many credit  
cards will cover that..... :)

On a serious note though, if you consider a stay in a private hospital  
somewhat akin to that of a hotel, you could imagine where value added  
services might accrue extra 'personal' cost....