So pretty much the only person im NOT telling is my boss. I work in a very small company, only about 10 employees, so i know it will be hard to hide the surgery. However, Im pretty close with all of my coworkers except for my boss. She is very judgmental and makes snarky comments all the time about inappropriate topics. So for now i just don't want her to know because i don't want to hear "you don't need surgery you can do it on your own" and "why would you do that to yourself" etc. Or every time a piece of food enters my mouth "are you supposed to be eating that?!" all said with attitude.

So my question is, if i just take a week of vacation and not say anything about the surgery, will my boss find out anyway though my insurance company? Ive heard through the grapevine that especially in small companies that the insurance company submits it and my boss will know. Is this true? Is there a way i can ask my insurance company NOT to submit it to my company?

I replied to you in the other thread.

Legally, they're not allowed to disclose this kind of information without your consent. When you're applying for time off, all the information that they need to know is that you're going to be out and that it's medically related. Unless your boss is also handling HR duties (my FMLA paperwork had details regarding my surgery), she shouldn't find out.

technically im just taking a week of vacation for the surgery so im not taking medical leave or anything. i was told by a friend that whenever you submit a claim to insurance, the insurance company sends it to the company. Like i said we are a very small company so it wouldnt be hard to figure out that its me.

Yeah that is definetly not true. Even the annual and quarterly data they get from the insurance company is aggregate. It might be broken down by location and diagnosis code...so someone in corporate benefits who analyzes that data will see a higher claim rate at your location and if they drill down they will see what for, but the insurance company does not provide your identifying information to them.

And they are usually more interested in reducing the amount of endocrine (diabetes), musculoskeletal, cardiovascular, etc. claims....things they have control over in various ways. Probably why they offer coverage for wls. You probably have wellness plans available to you where you can utilize health coaches and such too? That is also confidential.

Sounds like your friend is very misinformed and trying to scare you. I have a self-funded plan, which means the insurance company just handles the administration of the claim but the employer actually pays for claims directly and they have decision on all appeals. So I know if I have to appeal it goes to a committee made up of people from benefits. However they were quick to assure me that everything is totally private and nothing is shared beyond the corporate benefit level and it would come to them with my name redacted.

The insurance does not and can not send any info to your boss. The HIPPA privacy laws protect you. I manage an HR dept. Trust me on this.

Yeah, as a healthcare professional, that would be a big violation of HIPAA and grounds for termination if anyone went poking through your medical records without your consent. So I wouldn't stress about it.

Thank you everyone for the reassurance. I'm very thankful for this forum and each and every one of you