Firearm questions asked by health ins co.

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I have never been asked that before.

However, I think I would refuse to answer and tell them I will not answer any questions on Gun Ownership, Political Affiliation, or Religious Beliefs as they are not Health Care Related. That way there are several things that I simply wont talk about, not just guns.
 
Well, I'm a physician and would like to point out the difference between the healthcare providing population and the insurace risk stratifying populations.
There are studies showing you are more likely to be injured by a firearm if you have one. Weather the study was flawed or not, it only makes sense. It also lets them raise your rate which is what it is really all about.

As for myself:
I do not care if people own firearms, I care if they make responsible healthy decisions. I am an adviser to them, so it is important for me to know details about their lives. Do you own a firearm or reload? It is a rare question for me to ask, but not unheard of. (It is not the most personal question asked either - not by far.) Usually I just say something along the lines of '"please make sure your firearms are safely inaccessable to your children, use a car seat, teach you kid to swim or keep them away from the family pool...etc." If they need a lock, I can get them one.
If you don't want me to be concerned about possible lead poisoning in your kid, if you don't think the idiot down the street leaves his gun accessable to his idiot kid, if you think it is inappropriate to ask someone who admits they want to kill themselves if they have a gun, then find another doctor. No, I don't care if you carry, just leave it in the holster. I am likely carrying in the clinic anyway. Stay safe and stay healthy.
 
Rem2429 (and others) are correct -- the question is pretty standard when developing a risk profile. I was enrolled in a program in TX where I worked in the early '80's and firearm ownership was already considered a component of higher risk. I agree with the comment regarding singling out certain activities, e.g., skydiving, skiing, motorcycling, etc. If you ask about one of them, seems like you have to include most sports. BTW and a little off the subject, it always angered me that Bill Ruger singled out motorcyclists in his company and denied them insurance coverage for any injury due to that activity. Seems like the pot calling the kettle black...............
 
If the insurance company is going to be concerned about your risk of injury from firearms, it would seem far more important to ask such questions as "Do you live in the getto part of town? Do you hang out on street corners at 2:00 AM? Do you go to nightclubs known to have frequent fights, stabbings, and shootings?"

Those questions would seem to me to be a far better predictor of whether you might require medical attention as the result of a gunshot wound than asking a responsible, law-abiding, target shooter or hunter whether he has a firearm in the house.

I agree with others who say that asking about firearms in the house without asking about many other activities that are far more likely to result in serious injury or death is simply a way of discriminating against firearm owners. Almost as many people die from bicycle accidents each year as by firearms accidents. Did they ask if you owned a bicycle?
 
No Answer

I think the best thing to do was to leave it blank. At my job, our application has tons of questions, and when it comes to some of the questions, there is nothing I nor my employer can do to the employee for not answering certain questions.
 
"NA" - Not Applicable. Not a medical related question. And, as stated in a post above; no Constitutional, political or religious affiliation questions are appropriate on a medical questionnaire. My two cents!
sailortoo
Semper Paratus (also)
 
Dishonest

The question is simply dishonest.

If they really cared about health risks from "seemingly" non-medically-related behavior, they would ask things like:
  • Do you cheat on your wife?
  • Have you had unprotected sex with more than one partner this year?
  • Do you have "kinky" sex?
  • Do you allow your dog or cat to lick your face?
  • Do you keep birds?
  • Do you work with poisons?
  • Do you work with flamable liquids?
  • Do you drive drunk?
  • Do you speed when you drive?
  • Does your car have bald tires?
And I've never seen those questions on such a list.

You want "obscure" data?

I've got your obscure data right here.
 
"Do you live in the getto part of town? Do you hang out on street corners at 2:00 AM? Do you go to nightclubs known to have frequent fights, stabbings, and shootings?"

im a glad to say I can now answer no to all those questions, a year or two ago the answer would have been yes to all three lol
 
Armoredman is definately on target!

My last doctor was a gun owner, too. Just moved, not looking forward to looking around- maybe I should give them a questionaire...
1) Do you allow quasi-official politically oriented organizations/boards to instruct you to ask questions of your patients not related to the practice of medicine? Y/N
2) D you allow a political agenda to influence your behaviors or actions in your office, or allow others in your staff to do so? Y/N
3) Do you dislike certain Constitutional rights? Y/N
4) Will your medical malpractice insurance cover any harm coming to me directly caused by my following any non-medical reccomendations/requests made by you or your staff, in or out of this office, particularly those of a politically driven nature?

Wonder how many docs would fill that out...
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I imagined myself answering these questions as if I were a doctor......

...Man, would they make me uncomfortable!

Especially #4! A "Yes" answer would open the door wide for a lawsuit for ANYTHING. Even a "have a nice day" could have financial repurcussions for him if you spilled your coffee during the drive home. A "No" answer makes him seem like an uncaring @$$.

All the questions insinuate a hidden political agenda, even if answered negatively.

I'd say it would be an excellent counter questionairre to a "Do you own a firearm?" question.

I leave all questions about firearms blank. I'm neither lying or answering affirmatively.
 
Just one more comment about answering these type question on a "health" questionnaire. Rather than leave the box or circle blank, I think it is better to write "N.A." in the answer area. That way, someone else couldn't go back later and fill in the circle or put an "X" in the box with the same colored pen or pencil that you used.

After all, how could you prove or dis-prove who put the X in the box? If you write in "N.A.", that makes it pretty clear and makes it hard to change without being detected.
 
After all, how could you prove or dis-prove who put the X in the box? If you write in "N.A.", that makes it pretty clear and makes it hard to change without being detected.
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Excellent point.
 
I doubt that there is an "NA" option when filling out the survey online - and it might not let you proceed and submit the survey without checking something on every question :(

Considering the death/illness rate from heart attacks and obesity related conditions, firearm injuries/deaths are statistically insignificant. Most of the folks getting shot probably don't have insurance anyway, as it is mostly criminal on criminal violence.
 
I'd go at it from this angle, go up to whoever gave you the form to fill out and say

"I have two problems with this question:

The first, whoever wrote this question is not well informed on the many new safe storage options currently available, what this means is I spent a bunch of money to make sure my firearms are as safe as possible (hey, this might have been that lethal forces training....) but because your questioner is ignorant of then, what do i do? Do I check the worst box and get poorer insurance rates, or do I check the best box, which is more accurately assessing my risk, but that is lying and could cause policy revocation."

"Second, I realize you guys are computing data to decide how risky I am. Still, certain things are off limits to me. If you had data on Presbyterians being more unsafe that Baptists, I'd not answer your question about what religion I am, If you had data on people inclined to vote for Hillary Clinton were safer than people who plan to vote for Barrak Obama, I might recognize the relavance, but I'd stil say for me that question is off limits. These are of course just examples, and no one is asking them...yet."
 
This has nothing to do with anyones health or safety, other than the safety of the insurance companies money.

My buddy's wife is an underwriter for a big insurance conglomerate and her sister and actuary for another. They have been saying for years that the way we will lose our guns will be due to the insurance companies and their requirements/restrictions.

If you want to buy a house and get mortgage insurance, you do as they say, or you wont get insured, hence, no mortgage, as the bank wont give you the money unless your insured. I recently went through this because of my dog. It gets your attention REAL quick. All they have to say is..."no guns in the house". If you have a fire and they find one or ammo whatever, in the ruins, they dont pay. I also went through something similar at the same time with the dog because of the wood stove in the house. It doesnt have a UL rating tag on it. If its hooked up, and the house burns, for whatever reason, they wont pay. If I want a wood stove, I have to buy a new one, same model, same stove, just has a tag on it.

Yup, better get the NRA on this right away. Oh, wait, they cant get insurance either....... ;)
 
Kind of a rhetorical question, I guess - how does the Second Amendment relate to an insurance survey/question? Since First Amendment rights (speach and religion) are very much off base in questioning, in most cases, why wouldn't 2A questioning be in the same league? I realize most/many persons do not equate 1A & 2A as being equal (they should), but that could be a good basis for not answering some gun ownership questions. Any comments? :confused:
sailortoo
Semper Paratus (also)
 
Your "rights" have nothing to do with your interaction with a private insurance company. If you dont answer their questions, they dont have to insure you. If you answer them untruthfully, they dont have to pay.
 
When she left the room I went over and read what she had written. It was something to the affect of "patient showed signs of strange behavior, refused to put down sleeping child and refused to answer question of firearm ownership. I do not see any evidence of him being harmful to himself or others at this time"
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HMMMM anyone remember the recently passed house bill. I will not mention veterans disarmament or anyting pertaining. But this could be a means to an end that the anti's want. Given the "right" doctor you could now probably be adjudicated as being mentally unable to own a firearm.
 
I think the best thing to do was to leave it blank. At my job, our application has tons of questions, and when it comes to some of the questions, there is nothing I nor my employer can do to the employee for not answering certain questions.
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"to the employee for not answering certain questions"?

What about the applicant that is not a current employee? Would they ignore unanswered questions on the application and evaluate the candidates worth otherwise. Or would not answering some of the questions like the ones we have been talking about cause them to put the application in the "pass" pile???
 
If you dont answer their questions, they dont have to insure you. If you answer them untruthfully, they dont have to pay.
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So if I answered that I had no guns in my house (which would be UNTRUE) and my house later burned down due to an electrical problem, you're saying that the insurance company wouldn't have to pay for my house burning down????? Ummm, I'll bet that some lawyers would love to get a case like that. I'm not a lawyer, but I'll bet there has to be some nexus (connection) between the untruthful statement and the cause of the claim.

I could understand that if I lied about guns and then some kid came to my house and found a gun of mine and shot himself with it. In that case, the insurance company would be justified in denying any coverage under my liability portion of my homeowner's policy. But if I answer untruthfully about my guns and the claim has nothing to do with guns, then I'm confident that the insurance company would have to cover the loss.
 
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