I don't think so...

May 19, 2006 14:42

Dear $health_insurance_provider,

I am in receipt of your letter, sent on your behalf by my employer, urging me to fill out a "health risk assessment" so that you can provide me with an "action plan for [my] health". It appears that you are proposing to make recommendations for my medications, lifestyle, diet, and, for all I know, hypothetical affinity for skydiving, all on the basis of a questionnaire.

You are, of course, aware that as a condition for acquiring your insurance services, I designated a primary-care physician who is responsible for overseeing my care and who is, you know, an actual doctor. If you care to open up your file on me, you will see that I do in fact avail myself of his services on the conventional, recommended schedule. In other words, I already have a source of sound health advice, and I do not need to augment it with a source of less-sound advice offerred absent any actual examination of me. I understand that some of your customers might not be availing themselves of their doctors' services, but perhaps your effort would be better spent encouraging them to change that instead of offering medical opinions via email.

While you do, of course, influence my doctor (through your decisions about what you will and will not cover), I think my doctor is more likely than you are to prioritize my health over your costs. So if it's all the same to you, I plan to stick with my current plan for continued good health.

viz, health

Previous post Next post
Up