Unless there’s an exception. (i.e., 0.18% on $20,000 is $36 – that’s at least a “free lunch”. {{ LOL }} )
intercst
2 Likes
Those are all third-party processors. Seems like you would have to give them a lot of seriously useful data to do this.
I don’t know but I imagine they would need your SSN and personal data at a minimum.
Seems like an unnecessary risk to add another place that has that amount of data to be hacked.
TurboTax, TaxAct etc. have it (as does the IRS) but unless you want to do the manual paper route it’s tough to avoid - but why tempt fate?
The Vanguard fraud guy told me that at this point, everyone’s personal information has been breached several times over. Personal data security is an illusion.
intercst
7 Likes
Personal medical data privacy is also an illusion. There is a great video by Naomi Brockwell on YouTube explaining the actual content and intent of HIPPA, the act passed in 1996 that all of us think was written to protect OUR medical privacy.
The Readers’ Digest version?
The language within HIPAA has nothing to do with protecting YOUR medical data from unauthorized access by third parties. Instead, provisions in the law were written to ENSURE that medical providers, insurers and particularly the government HAD the right to share your information among themselves, presumably to use in identifying opportunities for efficiency or signs of fraud, etc.
The original interpretation of the law has been widened further through administrative decisions to include a wider set of third parties who can be supplied medical information provided it does not include two or three key pieces of information such as SSN, name, etc. However, OTHER pieces of data ALLOWED to be shared along with the core medical data provide enough linkages to other information firms can already track to make it child’s play to link the “anonymous” medical data BACK to identity data and back to YOU.
How many distinct businesses have access to medical data in bulk. The video cites a report from Health & Human Services that puts the number at 2,201,325 firms. Given what everyone knows about the number of data breaches seen in Corporate America every day, it is GUARANTEED that if 2,201,325 different business entities have access to the average American’s records, NONE of those records are secure collectively speaking.
At this point, the ONLY person whose work is made more difficult in accessing your medical records by HIPAA regulations is YOU when you want to
- see your own records directly
- send your records to a new / alternate doctor
- ensure a trusted family member or friend can access them to assist you
Then, you might as well be trying to smuggle nuclear launch codes out of Cheyenne Mountain engraved on gold bricks.
WTH
11 Likes
@WatchingTheHerd you get a chuckle and a rec for this.
Wendy
4 Likes
Those of us for a single payer system have been trying to tell you we are all in the same boat. Now we all know it.
4 Likes
2% cash back on $20k is $400. So more than a free lunch. Unless they stick you with the credit card fee (usually 3% or more) which in that case you are in the hole.
That is the whole point! They charge 1.82%, your credit card gives you 2%, so you net a positive 0.18%.
If you click on the IRS link, there’s a minimum 1.82% fee for using the credit card depending on which private, for-profit company processes the transaction. That leaves you with 0.18% or $36.
American business thrives on excessive “skim”. As a former health care worker, you should know that. {{ LOL }}
intercst
1 Like
One wonders what the maximum might be…
Pete