<p>I'd like to go to the doctor using the insurance that I get through my parents' plan (I have a dependent's card), however, I do not want my parents to know about this. I do not feel comfortable using my school's health service either. I've been to the doctor's once before using my card (if I go to a health practitioner who accepts it, I do not have to pay anything) and my mom mentioned receiving a letter from the health insurance company about them having paid or whatever. I was wondering how much information exactly do you see when your child uses your health insurance plan. Can you see the name of the doctor, their specialty, and for what exactly your child was treated? Would it be possible to ask that the doctor withhold some of this information under physician-patient privileges? Would you then know that the information was withheld? If the insurance company has to send those letters, is it possible that they're sent to me and not to my parents? Even if they didn't get any letter, is there any sort of 'historic' or 'database' that my parents could consult and know each time I went to the doctor and why?</p>
<p>When anyone covered under our insurance plan sees any medical provider, my husband as the primary policyholder gets a statement of member benefits. If you don’t want to use the school’s health service, you would have to be FULL self-pay if you don’t want the primary policyholder to get a statement showing you were seen by a healthcare provider and what portion was covered by insurance and what portion was self-pay. At least that’s my understanding.</p>
<p>Your parents/family members would not know WHY you went to the doc, but all the health plans I am familiar with provide a benefits statement periodically to the primary policyholder, showing which people under the policy were seen on which dates by which providers.</p>
<p>The doc & other healthcare providers CANNOT disclose any details about the visit or treatment without your consent if you’re 18 or older. Pharmacists vary about how they provide info about what was paid for and whether they reveal the medication dispensed (some just provide an Rx number & the person the Rx was dispensed for.</p>
<p>After every doctor/hospital visit we get a statement. Usually it will list the services received in general terms and the charge and what the insurance actually covered. For instance, office visit, lab services, surgery, etc, but it is hard to know even from those what the details are. Surgery, for example, was simply my son having ear wax removed. </p>
<p>Our plan also covers prescription drugs but we never get any statement on their usage. </p>
<p>The insurance company will not send you the statement as you are not the primary policy holder.</p>
<p>They’d likely see the provider (i.e. the doctor’s name) and the services rendered along with the amount and date. </p>
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It takes about 2 seconds on the the internet to match the name up with the specialty.</p>
<p>As a parent, I wouldn’t let the insurance statements just come flying through for something I don’t know about - I want to validate that the service was actually rendered and everything’s correct. In addition, if there’s something wrong with my kid, I want to know about it so you can bet I’ll pay attention to the statement.</p>
<p>If you truly want to keep whatever you’re doing secret from your parents then you shouldn’t use their insurance for it. You already have other insurance through your school apparently but you don’t want to use that either.</p>
<p>If you don’t want to use either any insurance plan you’re covered under then you’re probably going to need to pay for the service yourself or see if there are other providers who’ll provide the service at no cost (maybe a county clinic or something).</p>
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<li>Whatever you do, if you think you need to see a doctor for anything then make sure you do so and don’t let your fear of your parents seeing something or discomfort with your school’s plan or unwillingness to just pay for it stop you.</li>
</ul>
That’s weird - you get the statement and it doesn’t even indicate who (doc or facility or entity) provided the services? That’d be like getting a random bill for $100 but not knowing who the bill was from.</p>
<p>On our insurance statements, we can see exactly what the services were and who the provider is. If your parents got such a statement, they’d probably call you to make sure the charges are legit.</p>
<p>What would you want to hide from your parents and why? OB/GYN (birth control, std treatment, pregnancy, abortion) or mental health services are the main things I’d imagine that students might want to keep private. How do you think your parents would react if they knew about any medical services you’d received? Most parents are concerned about their children’s health. Why not just tell them what’s going on? </p>
<p>The person who has the insurance in their name can find out anything about the type of doctor they want to know so you cannot see a doctor through your parents insurance company and have privacy.</p>
<p>If you are over 18, your parents cannot find out why you saw any doctor but if you go see say a GYN, it is sort of obvious.</p>
<p>You must pay for the visit yourself if you don’t want them to know, that is your only choice.</p>
<p>That’s weird - you get the statement and it doesn’t even indicate who (doc or facility or entity) provided the services? That’d be like getting a random bill for $100 but not knowing who the bill was from. </p>
<p>I just checked the statement I got from when my son had his “surgery” in the town he goes to school in and it does give the provider, not that it tells me much (American Currant?) So I stand corrected. </p>
<p>Maybe I’m an outlier as I barely give these things a glance, other then to look at the line which says Your Plan pays X amount, which is obviously why I had no idea they listed the provider.</p>
<p>See if you can register online with the insurance company. You can sign up to have the explanation of benefits emailed to you and not mailed home, usually. There is also generally a box to check if you WANT your parents to have access to your health information otherwise they don’t have access. At the dr’s office you will also need to sign as the responsible party and have the bills mailed to you, if there are any, and not sent home, but that also means you have to pay those bills. If this is for any “female” issues, you can also go to Planned Parenthood and not deal with insurance.</p>
<p>Thanks. To clear any doubts (and since this is anonymous), I’m dating and was thinking of going to the OB/GYN (where I’ve never been before) to make sure everything is fine and get some info about stuff. My parents are <em>really</em> heavy on abstinence and I felt extremely weird about getting that kind of info on-campus or going to Planned Parenthood. Maybe I’ll just save up work-study and go, since apparently most of you agree that they will find out pretty easily that I went. Or maybe I won’t go, since I doubt 15 min with a doctor can tell me that much more than those awkward “health class” and student services brochures did. Anyway, thanks a lot for taking the time to answer.</p>
<p>Sounds like Planned Parenthood is a good option for you. They have a lot of resources for young girls like you are looking for and sliding scale costs for birth control. PLEASE go to the dr if you are thinking about becoming sexually active.</p>
<p>Arrow03, I was in a very similar situation once. I also felt uncomfortable going to student health and searched for an outside doctor and self-paid for OB/GYN visits when I was in college. This is because when I showed up at Student Health, the receptionist said in a VERY loud voice for all in the waiting room to hear, “WHAT ARE YOU HERE FOR?” So I ran away! I went to a different doctor (maybe with Planned Parenthood – I cant remember for sure.) But a year or two later, I did go back to student health, and I actually liked the doctor there much better. And my parents never knew I went there. There were never any statements that came home. Plus, they had discounted birth control at student health at my school that was much cheaper than what I was paying privately.</p>
<p>If you are looking for birth control information, you have been given some good options by other posters.</p>
<p>When you use your parents insurance, they will likely receive an Explanation of Benefit sheet. This will tell your name, the date of the visit, how much the insurance actually paid…and any amount they might owe above the covered benefit.</p>
<p>I can tell you that if I received this about one of my kids, I would call the kiddo to inquire about what the problem was that required a trip to the doctor. Just be prepared for that. </p>
<p>The doctor’s office will not give your parents any information about your visit.</p>
They make these things as cryptic as possible so you’re not the only one who looks mostly at the bottom line. The current Reader’s Digest has an article on the cryptic medical/insurance statements.</p>
<p>In the OP’s case, as a parent, if I received some insurance statement with my kid’s name on it I wasn’t expecting I’d review it closely to see what was wrong with her and follow it up with asking her what the issue was. I’d be naturally very concerned that she might have a medical condition I wasn’t aware of.</p>
<p>Edit - cross posted with thumper on the above point.</p>
<p>When we were on the expat health insurance, once D2 turned 18 we had no access to her medical treatments from the insurance company. They only showed us the reimbursement. It is funny because I was responsible for filing everyone’s medical claims. Now that we are back with an US insurance company, I am able to view D2’s treatments again. It is strange with HIPAA regulations that I am allowed to view anyone’s medical treatments who is over 18.</p>
<p>If OP is concerned about her privacy, I wouldn’t put a claim through her parents’ health insurance provder.</p>