What Can I Do if My International Health Insurance Provider Won’t Share My Claims Data?

It’s one of the most common frustrations we hear from companies that purchase international health insurance for their employees:

“Our insurer says they can’t share claims data because of privacy or confidentiality rules.”

A general reference to privacy does not explain what reporting is possible. Ask what can be shared safely, and which specific restriction applies.

When They Can Share Claims Data

Yes – insurers and TPAs can and routinely do share aggregated claims data reports with the policyholder (the employer), as long as:

• The reporting is effectively anonymised or aggregated, with a check that people cannot reasonably be identified from combinations of details
• The employer is the legal policyholder under a group plan
• The data is used for legitimate business purposes, such as plan management or renewal negotiations

Standard reports typically include:

• Total claims paid vs. premiums (loss ratio)
• Claims by benefit type (outpatient, inpatient, maternity, etc.)
• Top diagnostic categories
• Claim frequency and cost trends
• Large claims summaries with identifiers removed

This is standard practice among leading global insurers, and most reputable MGUs and TPAs.

When They Cannot Share Claims Data

Identifiable health data is not routine employer management reporting. Any disclosure needs to meet the applicable legal requirements and appropriate confidentiality safeguards; neither consent nor a medical-review purpose automatically permits unrestricted disclosure to an employer.

The Practical Reality

Some smaller TPAs or MGUs – and even some insurers – use “data privacy” as a pretext to avoid sharing claims data. Often it’s not a compliance issue but a control issue: they know that once you have data, you can question their renewal logic and challenge their pricing.

What You Can Do About It

If your insurer refuses to share claims data, you have three practical options:

1. Appoint a broker to insist on it. A qualified broker will make data reporting a condition of your insurer relationship and ensure you receive anonymized, regular reporting.
2. Make it part of your renewal negotiation. No data, no renewal. Insist that data transparency is non-negotiable – it’s the only way to manage costs responsibly.
3. Change insurers if necessary. There are plenty of global insurers and TPAs that view data sharing as standard practice. Switching can feel disruptive, but staying blind is worse.

Why It Matters

Without claims data, you can’t understand your true cost drivers or measure the success of benefit design changes. You’re negotiating in the dark. With data, you can build a sustainable strategy – balancing financial sustainability with employee wellbeing.

At One World Cover, we’ve been helping international employers secure and interpret claims data for more than a decade. Because you can’t fix what you can’t see – and no organization should have to negotiate blind.

READ MORE >> Get Your Health Insurance Claim Data Or Fire Your Insurer – NOW!

READ MORE >> How Health Insurers Skew Your Claims Data

To learn more please get in touch: [email protected] or click here to contact us.

Privacy detail: removing names alone does not make a claims dataset anonymous. Dates, diagnoses or rare events may still identify someone, particularly in a small group. The UK ICO’s anonymisation guidance explains this risk; local requirements and the proposed sharing arrangement also need assessment.