NEGATIVE — MEDICAL — SIGNIFICANCE 242

NO INSURANCE COMPANY HARMS

INSURANCE COMPANIES WILL TRY AND COLLECT MORE DATA, BUT THEY WILL NOT USE IT IN DETERMINING RATE QUOTES OR AVAILABILITY OF COVERAGE

Beth Karlin, Insurance Networking, March 1999: Pg. 24 TITLE: The Struggle Over Privacy: Whose Life Is It Anyway? // acs-VT2001

It's no secret that insurers, in their zeal to get closer to customers and prospects, are buying information from other companies. In addition, many talk about how they mine policyholder information to use in marketing. Consumers, regulators and privacy advocates, of course, fear such information, which is more accessible in the online age, will influence decisions about who gets or doesn't get approved for policies.

"Hypothetically, that could happen," says Leifer. "But the economics of it just doesn't make any sense." Insurers might lose more than they gain by alienating customers, he adds.