M.I.B.

[Dee]

Evil, pure evil.  The same week my insurance claim was denied, my credit was frozen.

I have perfect credit, always make my payments. 

I wondered how the bank got wind of this, did a little research and discovered the Medical Information Bureau keeps files on us, received from insurance companies.

this information is handed out to banks and future employers.  Nice.

So now there is a record, similar to a credit report, stating that I am crazy!!!  Not that I ever wanted to go into politics, but god forbid I ever apply for a job at a bank or large company.  I am black-listed.

How many of you are aware of this?  I read an article that stated only 2% of the population in Canada and US are even aware of MIB.

Dee

[AirMarshall]

Woa!

I knew the insurance companies had joint databases of some information.  I didn't know it had any ties to the credit agencies.

Thinking fast here, it may not be your medical information per se, but rather a trigger that you are unemployed and denied disability, thus have no regular employement.  I don't think the greaseball used car salesman can find out that you are MI from your credit report in the back office.

If you are in the US, you have the right to a written explanation why your credit has been denied from the pertinent credit agency.

Keep us posted!  This is important stuff.

A.M.

[Dee]

http://www.mib.com/

Here is their website.  Have a look around.

And a good article:

http://www.yourcredit.com/disclosure/MIBprivacy.jsp

[SugarShock]

Well, if it makes ya feel better, thier are

a LOT of crazy people!

Trust me, MI is like AIDS or cancer nowadays.

If you don't have it, someone you know dose.

And any potental employer most likely has or knows

someone who dose.

[Dee]

It doesn't make me feel any better. 

Just like people with HIV are discriminated against, so are the MI when it comes to future employment, short of cleaning toilets or flipping burgers. 

So basically you have to be REALLY crazy and never work or just suck it up and never take short-term disability.  Otherwise, MIB (or shall we call them Men in Black?) has you on record.  Bastards!

[SugarShock]

I was in the military for a number of years, and trust me,

unless your dealing crack or blowing shit up, we don't care about

you. (don't care in the good, "your not going to jail" sense   )

Think about this, though.

I worked with another MI girl for,like, 5 years and never had a clue

she was on AD's.

It wasn't untill I asked her how her baby was, and she slipped some

thing in the convo about post-pardem (sp) depression.

There are SO many things we don't know about other people.

most of us can't read minds unless we're off the meds,lol, but

poeple have a lot of secrets.

I went in the service with MDD right on my paperwork, and they never

even blinked.

if someone like me can defend your nation, belivie me, you CAN go

way beyond flipping burgers!

[SugarShock]

And can you get a copy of this report they have on you?

Freedom of info act and all

[Dee]

The thing is though, you won't have an MIB file unless you have filed for disability through an insurance company. 

You can pay the $8 and get a copy, just like your credit report.  I already know what it says though, so why bother?

I'd like to think employers wouldn't discriminate, but I think it's naive to think they wouldn't (I'm sure some are fair). 

I am skilled in a field where the ability to work well under pressure and stress is key.  Having been on crazy leave for acute anxiety/depressive reaction is likely to trigger a red alert for any company that runs checks on potential employees.

Aw well, I actually enjoyed waitressing in the years I did it so I always have that to fall back on if necessary.

[SugarShock]

well, just keep in mind if they ask about the health stuff,

this is not legal.

I gotta look for a job soon, I'm sure i'll forget all the stuff

thier not supposed to ask you and answer them anyway.

But there's gotta be some kind law to back you up.

[ldo]

I was working in a pretty high tech place where maybe half of the employees seemed nuttier than I was. And some of the people who seemed less nutty were taking antidepressants or whatever. Then there was the faction that self medicated with whiskey in a meeting every Friday at 6. On the premises. It was not a room to go into with a lit match, or to inhale deeply in for very long if your system didn't like alcohol. If they start blacklisting all the people with MI, there will probably be enough of us to start an alternative economy.

[SugarShock]

If they start blacklisting all the people with MI, there will probably be enough of us to start an alternative economy.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yeah, that's what I meant with the thing i said about AIDS and cancer.

Sooner or later, if you don't have any mental issues, someone close to you

will.

[crazynotstupid]

I am unsure what the deal is...  From their website:

FICTION #1

[SugarShock]

Thanks, CNS!

I'll pass this on.

[AirMarshall]

Devilla,

I'm going to repeat what I said before.

If you have applied for and been denied credit, they must provide you with a written explanation of the reason why.

Go find out.

A.M.

[Catnapper]

Evil, pure evil.

[GreenGal]

Is this MIB thing relevant to the US only? Or is Canada affected as well?

Thanks

[Dee]

Hi Greengal,

MIB is a joint Canada and US operation.  I'm in Canada, not the US.

Catnapper,

By "frozen", I mean the bank has stopped me from using my existing credit.  I have not applied for new credit.  I check my credit report regularly and my FICO score is good.

I was given a vague letter of explanation that it was a result of the quarterly, routine credit check the bank runs.

Ido,

Lets do it.  Lets start our own alternative commune in the remote hills of California, lol.

What will we call our cult?  How about Crazy Farms?  We'll apply for tax exemption and welcome new members, but only if they have money they can turn over to us while we have them work 16 hours a day in the hot sun, plowing fields and milking cows. 

LMAO, I love it!

Dee

[ldo]

Oh, I was thinking something more high tech. We could design stuff and have the mundanes make it for us, as a license fee to use the designs. Set up places like James Bond villians, except without the evil. Lots of blinking lights, big spaces with dramatic stairways, secret exits which just happen to evade the usual traffic jams, etc. No throwing of hats allowed. I've done about three days of agricultural work (I don't count gardening) in my life, and my ambition is to avoid raising that number to four.

[Dee]

Can it still be worthy of the cult watch list? 

I'm way too much of a girly girl to do any farming myself, but then again if we are the cult leaders we wouldn't have to do the dirty work.  The victorian mansion with creepy tunnels and stairways sounds wonderful!  We would need at least an OC3 drop for our Internet connection and of course digital TV. 

New cult members can feed us grapes while we lounge on our thrones with laptops, posting on the crazy boards! 

Muahahahaha! 

[ldo]

That's funny. I'd been thinking about those oddball factory spaces which are so good for those battle scenes. But the Victorian thing is appropriate too. Of course we would have cult status. But we'd be so rich we could just pay those people to drop grapes in our mouths. Wouldn't feel so guilty if the grape droppers had health insurance, a car, and a house. As for me, I'd be particularly interested in the amazingly high tech treehouse 200 feet up in a nearby sequoia.

Oops, this is starting to feel like a threadjack. Sorry.

[GroovyGwen]

"Here come the Men In Black" (clap, clap)

"Galaxy defenders..." (clap, clap)

Couldn't resist

[Catnapper]

By "frozen", I mean the bank has stopped me from using my existing credit.