Egregiously Open Questions
#E15: [In the past ten years,] has any applicant consulted with or received treatment from any doctor or other health care provider for any other condition or symptom(s) not listed on this Application?
Let's see... I think I had a flu vaccine a few years ago. Oh, and in 2005 I went to the doctor with a fever. I think I got some antibiotics.
#F13: Has any applicant ever seen, received treatment from or consulted with any health care provider for any other condition or symptom(s) not listed on this Application?
Well, I was born in a hospital and received treatment for being covered in blood and bodily fluid. And when I was a kid, I was given the standard vaccines. Do you really want me to enumerate every time I ever saw a doctor?
This reminds me of the forms at Honduras's border and ferry points during the swine flu scare. "In the last two weeks, have you been around anyone with a fever?" How would I know? I don't take the temperature of guys sitting next to me on the bus. "In the last two weeks, have you sneezed or coughed?" No, absolutely no smoke, food, or other irritants have been lodged in my respiratory tract. Of course, the Hondurans seemed happy if we just answered "No" to everything, even if we were visibly sweating with a runny nose. If I don't answer to the satisfaction of the health insurance company, they could decide that my pronated feet were a preexisting condition causing me to trip and break a leg and retroactively deny coverage.
Anyone who opposes health care reform because they think it would lead to socialized medicine run by a bureaucracy should pay attention: that's exactly what American private health insurance is.
Edited to add: In the signature area, it says Once you submit this Application you may be contacted at any time via telephone by a Aetna representative to complete your enrollment and the underwriting process. You will be able to confirm the identity of the person calling. Please do not answer any questions if you are not satisfied with the identity of the caller. The person calling will give you a number to confirm their identity. Please call if you have any doubts or problems with respect to the call or the process during the call.
This, as Bruce Schneier pointed out, is insecure. Especially since they could have put the number on the form, rather than trusting the caller to give a valid number to confirm his own identity.
Let's see... I think I had a flu vaccine a few years ago. Oh, and in 2005 I went to the doctor with a fever. I think I got some antibiotics.
#F13: Has any applicant ever seen, received treatment from or consulted with any health care provider for any other condition or symptom(s) not listed on this Application?
Well, I was born in a hospital and received treatment for being covered in blood and bodily fluid. And when I was a kid, I was given the standard vaccines. Do you really want me to enumerate every time I ever saw a doctor?
This reminds me of the forms at Honduras's border and ferry points during the swine flu scare. "In the last two weeks, have you been around anyone with a fever?" How would I know? I don't take the temperature of guys sitting next to me on the bus. "In the last two weeks, have you sneezed or coughed?" No, absolutely no smoke, food, or other irritants have been lodged in my respiratory tract. Of course, the Hondurans seemed happy if we just answered "No" to everything, even if we were visibly sweating with a runny nose. If I don't answer to the satisfaction of the health insurance company, they could decide that my pronated feet were a preexisting condition causing me to trip and break a leg and retroactively deny coverage.
Anyone who opposes health care reform because they think it would lead to socialized medicine run by a bureaucracy should pay attention: that's exactly what American private health insurance is.
Edited to add: In the signature area, it says Once you submit this Application you may be contacted at any time via telephone by a Aetna representative to complete your enrollment and the underwriting process. You will be able to confirm the identity of the person calling. Please do not answer any questions if you are not satisfied with the identity of the caller. The person calling will give you a number to confirm their identity. Please call if you have any doubts or problems with respect to the call or the process during the call.
This, as Bruce Schneier pointed out, is insecure. Especially since they could have put the number on the form, rather than trusting the caller to give a valid number to confirm his own identity.