Medical confidentiality waiver: what you sign and why

In the application process, the medical confidentiality waiver is needed almost always. The insurer wants to be able to verify the applicant's health information with the treating doctors. If you refuse it, you risk a rejection of your application. In practice, many insurers refuse to process an application without this declaration.

The declaration applies only to the purpose stated in the form. Once given, it can be withdrawn at any time. If you withdraw it, be aware that the insurer can then no longer obtain information from doctors.

In disputes about benefits, the insurer often asks for a medical confidentiality waiver to check whether a treatment was medically necessary. Here it is advisable to limit the scope of the declaration to the specific dispute, so do not sign a general waiver for all past treatments. A declaration that is too broad gives the insurer access to your whole medical history, which is usually not necessary.

Read the content of a medical confidentiality waiver before you sign it. Check three points: Which period is covered? Which doctors are affected? And which purpose is stated?

We recommend that you check the content of every medical confidentiality waiver, limit what you release to what is actually necessary and note which declarations you gave, when and to whom. This way you keep control over which medical data the insurer may see.