Medical Privacy Initiative

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1282 South Sherman Street
Denver, CO 80210

November 21, 2000

Ms. Cheryl Goble
Department of Regulatory Agencies
Division of Insurance
1560 Broadway, Suite 850
Denver, CO 80202
RE: Insurance claim involving Travelers Insurance

Dear Ms. Goble:

I am writing to you to seek your assistance relating to a matter involving Travelers Property and Casualty.

On March 23, 2000 I was in an automobile accident with a driver who was under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol at the time of the accident and was driving a company car owned by Kleinfelder, Inc. and insured by Travelers Insurance. The driver of the other car, David Friedman, was cited for the accident and ticketed. Since that time I have undergone extensive medical treatment and therapy which is currently ongoing and I have lost a considerable amount of income due to time lost to doctor and therapy appointments and my doctor’s recommendation that I cut back my hours in order to recover. I have been informed by my doctor that the injuries sustained in this accident have caused me to have permanent damage and, unfortunately, I will have to live with continual pain for the rest of my life. This accident has had a very detrimental effect on my work and income, as I am self-employed.

Yesterday I was made aware of an issue involving the Travelers claims adjuster, Mr. Timothy Tofil. I was informed that Mr. Tofil did, without my consent, contacted my insurance company and did obtain answers to his questions such the amount of medical bills paid on my behalf. This is clearly a violation of my right to privacy. Any release of personal or medical information requires written consent from the patient. I have NOT provided authorization permitting Travelers to obtain information from my insurance company.

I have provided Travelers with written authorization to contact all my doctors and to verify my income in an attempt to fully cooperate with Mr. Tofil, but I did not authorize Travelers to contact my insurance company based upon the collateral source rule, a rule of evidence that states that evidence of the existence and amount of other insurance is inadmissible in a personal injury case.

Here is what I know happened: On September 25, 2000 Mr. Tofil sent separate medical and employment releases and asked me to sign them. I did not sign them.

On October 2, 2000, without a signed authorization, Mr. Tofil contacted my insurance company and obtained information.

On October 20, 2000 I signed and submitted his release forms with changes. I deleted the mention in his release form of “insurance companies” but kept in “physician, chiropractor, surgeon” etc. (The releases were unnecessary, however, because Mr. Tofil had already been provided with COMPLETE copies of all of my medical bills and medical records relating to the accident. If he does choose to use the releases to obtain medical information he will receive nothing more than that which he already has.)

On November 2, 2000 Mr. Tofil wrote, “I am unable to proceed with my evaluation of Ms. Ryman’s claim for damages without her signing the attached records release. Please do not alter or restrict this release in anyway [sic].” I refused to do so. The only substantive difference between his form and the one I signed was the deletion of “insurance companies”.

On November 9, 2000, incensed by my refusal to give him permission to contact my insurance company, Mr. Tofil sent a written offer to settle my claim for $750.00. That was clearly intended as an insult and was taken as such.

At that time I began to wonder why Mr. Tofil was so upset that I would not allow him to contact my insurance company. What was the big deal. He was clearly advised of the reason (the collateral source rule). Then it occurred to me that he may have ALREADY contacted my insurance company and was trying to cover his tracks.

I confirmed yesterday that Mr. Tofil HAD previously contacted my insurance company on October 2, 2000, before I had provided ANY release to Travelers, and DID obtain information from them. He had apparently presumed that I would sign whatever release was put in front of me, but I did not and I am not required to.

To put Mr. Tofil’s settlement offer in perspective, please consider the following facts. My medical bills attributable to the accident through October 9, 2000 total $*******. Of course, my treatment is ongoing so the current total is greater than that. My lost income attributable to the accident through November 10, 2000 totals a minimum of $******* and, of course, that figure continues to grow. And, finally, I have been informed by my doctor that I have suffered a some permanent injury as a result of the accident.

Mr. Tofil has offered me $750.00 to settle my claim for past, present and future lost income, medical expenses, pain and suffering, and total permanent injury that will oppress me for the rest of my life. Of course, the alternative is for me to give Mr. Tofil authorization to contact my insurance company so he will re-consider my situation.

What can he learn by contacting my insurance company that is at all relevant? Nothing. I have given him free reign to obtain medical and employment information. Any information he could obtain from my insurance company would either be duplicative (copies of medical bills he can obtain on his own with the medical authorization I have provided) or inadmissible pursuant to the collateral source rule (my own insurance coverages and benefits actually paid).

I find Mr. Tofil’s actions insulting and unethical, if not possibly illegal. Mr. Tofil appears to believe that he is either above the law or is in a position to force me to sign an authorization to cover up for his mistakes and take advantage of someone who has been permanently injured because of the negligence of one of Travelers’ insureds.

I would appreciate your assistance in reviewing this matter with Travelers. I am aware of recent media investigations into insurance companies for fraud, deceptive practices and other unethical and illegal activities. It is quite possible that Travelers is a reputable company, and in my situation they simply may have an employee control problem. Regardless of the source of the problem, I have been subjected not only to an unfortunate accident, but a continuing abuse of position that involves unfair, and perhaps illegal practices.

I greatly appreciate your assistance in this matter. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or would like me to provide any documentation or additional information. I may be reached at 303-698-1049.

Sincerely,

René Ryman

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1282 South Sherman Street
Denver, CO 80210

November 21, 2000

Ms. Cheryl Goble
Department of Regulatory Agencies
Division of Insurance
1560 Broadway, Suite 850
Denver, CO 80202

RE: Division File Name: Rene Ryman
Division File #: 01-121959-cag-slb
Insurer: The Travelers Indemnity Company of Illinois
NAIC #: 25674
Travelers Claim No.: C6V9192
Travelers Policyholder: Kleinfelder, Inc.

Dear Ms. Goble:

By now you have had the opportunity to your copy of Travelers' response, dated December 8, 2000, to my complaint that Travelers breached my right to the privacy of and stole my medical information. Travelers also made a bad faith offer of only $750

for my injuries. In that letter Ms. Price makes a number of misleading statements. The purpose of this letter is to respond to those allegations.

THE THEFT OF MEDICAL INFORMATION (a Class 6 felony in Colorado)

Ms. Price states in her letter that Mr. Tofil, the Travelers claims adjuster, contacted my insurance company, Country Companies, "to verify the amount of benefits that had been paid out for medical benefits for this accident."

Theft of medical information is a Class 6 felony in Colorado. See the attached copy of C.R.S. 18-4-412. Information concerning the doctors that have treated me, the amounts I have been billed for treatment, and the extent to which my injuries arose out of one accident or another are all medical information.

Ms. Price argues that the information that Mr. Tofil (unlawfully) solicited from my insurance company was needed to verify that I had incurred more than $2,500 in medical bills, which is a prerequisite in Colorado for making a tort claim.

It was completely unnecessary for Mr. Tofil to contact Country Companies to verify that I had incurred at least $2,500 in medical bills. Mr. Tofil had by that time already received from my attorney copies of medical bills totaling over $*****. I do not for one minute believe that was the reason for his telephone call to Country Companies.

* * *

Mr. Tofil did not call Country Companies solely to request information concerning medical bills paid on my behalf. According to Lori Chamberlain, the Country Companies claims adjuster that Mr. Tofil called, the purpose of Mr. Tofil's telephone call was to discuss the issue of apportionment between the 1/8/00 accident and the 3/23/00 accident. (See attached copy of email message from Lori Chamberlain to my attorney dated November 20, 2000.) Ms. Chamberlain did also happen to confirm the amount of medical bills paid to date. And these are only the matters that she has admitted in writing to having discussed with Mr. Tofil; I strongly suspect that she and Mr. Tofil discussed much more than those admitted topics.

The bottom line is Mr. Tofil had no right to have any telephone conversation with Ms. Chamberlain whatsoever about anything. Not about my medical bills. Not about "apportionment issues". Not about anything! If the amount of my medical bills and information concerning what injuries I did (or did not, as Travelers seems to think) sustain in one accident or the other are not "medical information" within the meaning of the theft statute, I do not know what is!(see comment)

It amazes me that Travelers is attempting to come up with reasons why contacting my insurance company without my authorization should be condoned by you. There can be no excuse for this. I did not authorize the contact, period. Any legitimate information need could have satisfied through legitimate means. Why did Mr. Tofil reject those other means?

Please also observe that Mr. Tofil hand-wrote the name and telephone number of the Country Companies claims adjuster, Terry Lesyinski, that handled my uninsured motorist (UM) claim on the letter from my attorney to him dated September 29, 2000. Neither I nor my attorney supplied this name or telephone number to him.(see comment) Perhaps he obtained that information from Lori Chamberlain. Perhaps he obtained that information by contacting yet another person at Country Companies. We may never know precisely from whom he obtained that information but we do know one thing; he had to have obtained it by contacting someone at my Country Companies, and I did not authorize that contact.

Did Mr. Tofil call Mr. Lesyinski? Country Companies is now staying mum on this issue. It would not have been necessary for Mr. Tofil to call Mr. Lesyinski to obtain the telephone numbers of the PIP claims adjusters because that information was included in the letter from my attorney, on which he wrote Mr. Lesyinski's name and telephone number.(see comment) So, why did he need Mr. Lesyinski's telephone number? Perhaps he discussed the "apportionment" issue with Mr. Lesyinski as well.(see comment)

Ms. Price has offered no possible reason or justification for contacting Mr. Lesyinski or for needing his telephone number, for that matter. If Mr. Tofil's sole purpose was, as Ms. Price alleges, to verify that my medical bills exceeded $2,500 (not a valid reason anyway, as discussed above) there would have been no reason for him to contact the UM adjuster, Mr. Lesyinski; the appropriate person would indeed have been the PIP adjuster, Lori Chamberlain, whose name and telephone number Mr. Tofil already had.

Most telling of all, Mr. Tofil himself acknowledged in his letter to my attorney, dated October 18, 2000 (a copy of which was enclosed with Ms. Price's letter), that he had no right to contact my insurance company without my consent. As of that date I had not provided a medical information authorization to Travelers.(see comment) Mr. Tofil stated in his letter of October 18, 2000 (note that this is AFTER he had actually ALREADY contacted my insurance company on October 2, 2000), "To date I have the following information: . . . PIP adjuster information for 1-8-00 and 3-23-00 claims, but no way to get any information about the claims from them." [emphasis added] He KNEW that he had no right to contact my insurance company without my authorization.

If all Mr. Tofil wanted was confirmation that the amount of medical bills paid on my behalf exceeded $2,500, all he had to do was ask my attorney to obtain that confirmation. My attorney could have obtained a letter from my insurance company confirming that it had paid more than $2,000 in medical bills on my behalf and would have provided it to Mr. Tofil. In fact, my attorney repeatedly (see the letters and email messages supplied to you by Ms. Price) asked Mr. Tofil to specify the information he was seeking and promised that she would obtain such information for him. Mr. Tofil never specified what he was seeking. He never requested confirmation of payment of bills in excess of $2,500 in relation to the 3/23/00 accident. He never requested copies of medical bills and records relating to the 1/8/00 accident. He insisted he had to have a release from me. My attorney told me that she would gladly provide copies of the medical bills and records relating to the 1/8/00 accident to Mr. Tofil, but that Mr. Tofil seemed to have a strong preference for obtaining them himself, so she talked me into signing a medical information authorization (as revised by her to reject authorization to contact my insurance company). (A copy of the Medical Information Authorization that I signed was enclosed with Ms. Price's letter.)(see comment)

At this time Mr. Tofil has all the authorization he needs to obtain medical bills and records relating to injuries I sustained in the 1/8/00 accident and relating to the injuries I sustained in the 3/23/00 accident and relating to the doctors' opinions of the apportionment of my injuries between the two accidents. What else does he need? He seems to be taking the position (with his $750 offer) that I was not injured in the 3/23/00 accident, but this flies in the face of the information already supplied to him.

* * *

I greatly appreciate your assistance in this matter. I will continue to keep you apprised of any developments in this situation. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or would like me to provide any documentation or additional information. I may be reached at 303-698-1049.

Sincerely,

René Ryman

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(1)Upon learning of the unauthorized contact with Lori Chamberlain, my attorney immediately put Country Companies on notice of a potential claim for this breach of privacy (and class 6 felony). Shortly thereafter Ms. Chamberlain's employment with Country Companies was abruptly terminated and a new adjuster was assigned to my PIP claims.(return)

(2) He also jotted down Lori Chamberlain's fax number. (return)

(3)My attorney did not know why he was requesting their names and telephone number, because she had no intention of allowing me to authorize him to contact them, but she supplied the information requested by Mr. Tofil anyway in the spirit of cooperation. She did not imagine that it could do any harm because she could control whether or not he contacted them by giving or withholding authorization. (return)

(4) Perhaps, if litigation becomes necessary in this case, we will subpoena Mr. Tofil's telephone records to see what telephone numbers at Country Companies he dialed and how long the telephone calls lasted. We may also needed to subpoena Country Companies' telephone records for return telephone calls to Mr. Tofil. (return)

(5)My attorney at that time was rewriting the proposed Authorization for Medical Information to remove the authorization to contact insurance companies. (return)

(6) Interestingly, my doctor tells me that to date he has NOT been contacted by Travelers, and Travelers has had a medical information authorization from me since about October 21, 2000. So, you tell me, did he need the medical information authorization to obtain copies of medical bills and records from the doctors, as suggested by Ms. Price, or for some other reason? Why did Mr. Tofil insist in his letter of November 2, 2000 (one month after he contacted my insurance company and more than a week after he would have received the signed medical information authorization from me) that he simply must have a release from me in HIS format (the only difference being that his form includes the authority to contact my insurance company and my form does not). If it was perfectly legal for Mr. Tofil to contact my insurance company, as Ms. Price suggests, then why was he so insistent on obtaining his form of release from me? He had already (albeit through illegal and unauthorized means) obtained the information Ms. Price claims Mr. Tofil needed from Country Companies, i.e. verifying that my medical bills exceed $2,500, (return)

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