[Transcript]
Should you sign the health authorization forms that the insurance companies are sending you? My name is Kenneth Berger, a South Carolina personal injury lawyer, and I made this video to help answer that question. Now, I know that after a wreck, dealing with one or more insurance companies and all the different claim information can be challenging and that includes having to figure out which forms you should sign, and which forms you shouldn't sign. When it comes to any type of medical release or HIPAAs, you've got a few options. One thing you can do is get in touch with the insurance adjuster and tell him or her that you're only going to sign a limited medical release for records going back to the date of your accident. Ok? Another thing you can do is take the health authorization form and put it in the trash and get the medical bills and records yourself. The third thing you can do, of course, is to contact a lawyer and help decide the best course of action with that attorney.
Now, in cases where there's little or no injury, signing one of the forms from the insurance company probably isn't a big deal. But if you've had a case where the injuries are serious, the injuries are life-changing, the injuries are something that honestly you probably want to do a free consultation with a lawyer for anyways, signing those health authorization forms can have a big impact on your case. Because a lot of times those forms, I promise you, the insurance company isn't asking you to sign those forms to figure out how to pay you more money. They're usually trying to get you to sign big blanket forms that really release all your health information going back a long, long time, even before the accident, so they can try to use things in your prior medical records to pay you less money and try to argue that somehow the injuries from the wreck were actually caused by something years back.
So, rather than risk it, my suggestion would just give our office a call to get some free answers, get a free consultation, and again, we can answer any questions that you have about those medical authorization forms or really any other aspect of your case just to make sure that your rights are fully protected even after someone else has caused you harm. Thanks for taking the time to watch this video and once more, if we can help in any way or answer any questions, just give us a call.