Should I Sign a Medical Release for the Insurance Adjuster?

After an accident—whether it’s a car crash, a slip and fall, or another personal injury—the insurance company may contact you with a seemingly routine request: to sign a medical release form. While this might sound harmless or even necessary, many injury victims don’t realize that signing a blanket medical release can severely hurt their case. Before putting pen to paper, it’s crucial to understand what these forms do, what rights you may be giving up, and why speaking to an experienced Illinois personal injury attorney first is almost always in your best interest.

What Is a Medical Release Form?

A medical release form—often titled something like “Authorization to Disclose Health Information”—is a document that gives the insurance company permission to access your medical records. The adjuster might claim they need this information to evaluate your injury claim, which is partly true. However, what they don’t mention is that the standard release forms they provide are usually broad and unrestricted, giving them access to your entire medical history, not just the records related to your injury.

Why Is the Insurance Company Asking for It?

Insurance adjusters are tasked with minimizing payouts for their employers. When they request a signed medical release, it’s typically for one or more of the following reasons:

To find pre-existing conditions: If you had previous injuries or health issues, the insurance company may try to blame your current pain on those rather than the accident.
To argue the injury isn’t serious: They may use older records to suggest that your injury isn’t as significant as you claim.
To delay or deny your claim: Fishing through years of unrelated medical records allows insurers to delay decisions and potentially justify denying your claim.

In other words, they’re not just trying to “verify your injuries”—they’re looking for reasons not to pay you.

What Are the Risks of Signing a Medical Release?

Signing a broad medical release can open you up to several risks, including:

Loss of Privacy

Your medical records contain sensitive information about your physical and mental health. When you sign a general release, you may be giving the insurance company access to everything from past surgeries to mental health counseling to reproductive health matters—even if they’re completely unrelated to the accident.

Misuse of Medical History

Insurers may use your unrelated past medical conditions to argue that your injuries were not caused by the accident or are less severe than you claim. For example, if you complained about back pain five years ago, they may argue that your current spinal injury is simply a continuation of an old problem.

Undermining Your Claim

Even something innocuous like a doctor’s note about returning to light duty work can be taken out of context. Adjusters are skilled at twisting information in ways that minimize your compensation or suggest you’re exaggerating.

Waiver of Legal Rights

Some medical release forms may contain language that inadvertently waives certain rights, such as allowing the insurer to talk directly to your doctor without your knowledge or presence, which can lead to mischaracterized statements.

Should I Ever Sign a Medical Release?

In some cases, limited disclosure of your medical records is necessary to settle a claim, but this should be done on your terms—not the insurance company’s terms.

You or your attorney can:

Provide only relevant medical records tied directly to the accident.
Redact or exclude unrelated or sensitive information.
Use a custom-tailored release with date and provider restrictions.
Ensure that all communications with your medical providers are documented and supervised.

What the Law Says About Medical Privacy

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) protects your private health information. Under HIPAA, your medical records cannot be released without your written consent. However, once you sign a general release, you’re giving up those protections voluntarily.

Illinois courts, like others across the country, recognize a right to medical privacy—but also acknowledge that when someone makes a personal injury claim, certain medical records relevant to the injuries are discoverable. The key legal principle is relevance. Only those records related to the injury in question should be disclosed.

Illinois courts generally do not permit discovery of unrelated medical records unless the requesting party can show a direct connection to the injury claim. A blanket waiver violates the principle of proportionality in civil discovery.

Insurance Tactics You Should Watch Out For

Insurance adjusters often use friendly, informal language to lull claimants into a false sense of security. Here are some red flags to watch for:

“It’s just a formality.”
They may claim it’s standard paperwork—while leaving out how it can be used against you.
“We need this to process your claim faster.”
In reality, giving them unrestricted access could slow things down or lead to a reduced settlement offer.
“You’re required to sign.”
Not true. You’re under no obligation to sign anything without legal counsel, especially a release that gives away your privacy.

Common Medical Release Traps

Here’s what to look out for in a release form:

Trap	Why It’s a Problem
No time limit	Allows access to lifetime records
No provider restriction	Lets them contact any doctor you’ve ever seen
Broad scope	Includes mental health, reproductive care, unrelated past injuries
Direct contact permission	Allows insurers to speak to your doctors without your presence

If the form contains any of these elements, you should absolutely consult an attorney before signing.

How Insurers Use Medical Records to Deny Claims

According to a study from the Insurance Research Council, insurers deny or reduce payment in nearly 30% of personal injury claims due to alleged inconsistencies in the claimant’s medical records. A report by the American Association for Justice also found that major insurance companies use aggressive “deny, delay, defend” tactics to reduce payouts. Giving them unfettered access to your private health history only fuels this strategy.

Example Scenario

Imagine this scenario: After a car accident, Sarah suffers a neck injury and files a claim. The insurance company asks her to sign a medical release. She signs it without question. The insurer then accesses her records and finds she went to a chiropractor five years ago for mild neck tension after sleeping poorly. They use this to argue her current injury is a “pre-existing condition” and offer her a fraction of what her claim is worth.

Had Sarah consulted a lawyer first, she could have avoided this by releasing only records from the date of the accident forward, or limited to providers who treated her for this specific injury.

What an Illinois Personal Injury Lawyer Can Do

An experienced Naperville personal injury attorney can protect your rights by:

Reviewing or drafting a narrow, case-specific release;
Ensuring only necessary medical records are disclosed;
Handling communications with the insurance adjuster;
Preventing unnecessary delays or denials;
Building a stronger, more protected claim.

At John J. Malm & Associates, we offer free consultations, so there’s no downside to getting legal advice before signing anything.

Bottom Line: Don’t Sign Without Legal Advice

Signing a medical release for an insurance company without legal guidance is risky and unnecessary. You could unintentionally give them ammunition to delay, deny, or devalue your claim. Remember:

You have the right to medical privacy.
You’re not obligated to sign a blanket release.
You can limit what the insurer sees with a narrowly tailored release.
Speaking to a personal injury lawyer before signing can save your case.

If you’ve been injured and the insurance company is pressuring you to sign forms, take a step back and talk to an attorney first. What seems like a simple signature could cost you thousands in compensation—or even your whole claim. Contact John J. Malm & Associates today for a free consultation.