Without any public scrutiny, insurers and data brokers are predicting your health costs based on data about things like race, marital status, how much TV you watch, whether you pay your bills on time or even buy plus-size clothing.
This story was co-published with NPR.
To an outsider, the fancy booths at last month’s health
insurance industry gathering in San Diego aren’t very compelling. A
handful of companies pitching “lifestyle” data and salespeople touting
jargony phrases like “social determinants of health.”
But dig deeper and the implications of what they’re selling might
give many patients pause: A future in which everything you do — the
things you buy, the food you eat, the time you spend watching TV — may
help determine how much you pay for health insurance.
With little public scrutiny, the health insurance industry has joined
forces with data brokers to vacuum up personal details about hundreds
of millions of Americans, including, odds are, many readers of this
story. The companies are tracking your race, education level, TV habits,
marital status, net worth. They’re collecting what you post on social
media, whether you’re behind on your bills, what you order online. Then
they feed this information into complicated computer algorithms that
spit out predictions about how much your health care could cost them.
Are you a woman who recently changed your name? You could be newly
married and have a pricey pregnancy pending. Or maybe you’re stressed
and anxious from a recent divorce. That, too, the computer models
predict, may run up your medical bills.
Are you a woman who’s purchased plus-size clothing? You’re considered
at risk of depression. Mental health care can be expensive.
Low-income and a minority? That means, the data brokers say, you are
more likely to live in a dilapidated and dangerous neighborhood,
increasing your health risks.
Click here for the full article.
Source: ProPublica
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