WARNING to all travelers considering using Allianz Global Assistance for an AA flight.

We recently had a flight to Rio booked where we were recommended to purchase trip insurance through Allianz Global Assistance and were told that for ANY medical event which led to cancelation, this would give us a full refund.

Unfortunately a few weeks before the flight my wife did require a trip to an OBGYN specialist and her Provider restricted her from all travel for 8-12 weeks (which fell right in the middle of the trip). We got supporting documentation from the clinic including a SIGNED letter from the Provider confirming he was restricting her from travel. He acknowledged that he was not comfortable release private patient information to an agency or outside organization who is NOT rendering medical care to the patient, and that any such act would result in a violation of the HIPAA patient privacy rights we are afforded in America. Unfortunately the folks at Allianz Global Assistance are not educated in the ways of privacy acts and said they have a firm policy for a policy holding patient to disclose the entire personal and private medical records release from the providers (and then asked for it in a NON-SECURE and non-encrypted manner for that matter! Another clear violation of the law). An employee there speaking on anonymity on the situation disclosed that they are instructed to just reject all claims and that they are only looked into if the customer files an appeal (and even ten he said they are audited and measured by the amount of claims they are able to reject). You all will have much better luck getting the airline to waive the cancelation policy in a circumstance like this (at least they don't flat out disregard the customers privacy rights) then you would be going through a 3rd party vendor like this who measures bottom lines and fiscal year profit reports on policy purchases vs adjudicated claims. We have traveled the world and have close to 1 million miles with both American and United, and never in a million years would I recommend any travel utilizing a company Allianz Global. (and for that matter, I would recommend another Airline since AA still elects to send their customers to a group like this).

Yawn!

I know you probably won't read this since you simply registered to rant. But you don't have a legitimate beef. period.

It is you who is not educated. Per HIPPA, the doctor is not allowed to release your medical records to anyone without a <i>signed</i> release from <u>YOU</u>.

So if you want $$ do what they tell you to do . . .

I had a great experience with Allianz who refunded my entire trip cost when I had a bad fall with a documented concussion and fractured teeth a week before my scheduled trip to Peru. My physician said "no way" to going to high altitudes with a concussion. I did have to get records (with my full release) from my physician and dentist, but it went through in no time and I received a check in less than two weeks.

As stated by janisj, your physician is only limited by YOU. He can release anything as long as your wife gives him written permission.

They are an insurence company--like any insurer--car, house, life, health--they need documented proof of claim. They are not going to take your word or a "teacher's note" from your doctor; you wouldn't either if it were your insurance company.

Agree with the responders to this thread. All kinds of nonsence in American Health care is ascribed to HIPPA, when in fact, the law was intended to allow for secure transfer of health information, not to restrict such transfers. When one buys travel insurance, one grants the insurer an implied consent to obtain relevant medical information to ajudicate a claim. Most unfortunate that both the insured and the provider in this case allowed their misunderstandings of these contractual provisions to interfere with making a valid claim.
That being said, I have worked with a company that operated a call center on behalf of various health care plans, so I have a glimpse into the realities of this industry, and there is always the possibility of a few employees who misunderstand what their job is and can make life miserable for an insured member and for the employer as well. Seems like the OP got one of these. Most reputable insurers really WANT to do the right thing, but they are also not in business to operate a charity either. Following the rules usually ends in success.