How Long to Save Medical Insurance Documents?

I was wondering how long I should keep a type of form from my husband's insurance company saying how much they have paid for medical insurance or for his kids' medical insurance? We have been together for a year if that helps in the advice that y'all have for me.

By Kathleen from Longview, TX

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PENNY K
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April 5, 20100 found this helpful

I know the standard answer for most records is 3 years, but I'd consider saving all records for any insurance, as long as you use that company. I'd go to the trouble of maybe having a tall filing cabinet out in the garage [you can get older one's at garage sales for little to nothing especially if they have a small dent]. You could keep anything over a year old in the filing cabinet, and the rest in the house. For instance, as long as you see one particular dentist, keep records pertaining to that dentist until you change dentists. Then put it into a box of OLDEST records.

Then once a year go through and purge the very oldest. But if you have ongoing medical problems, all records pertaining to that problem should be kept.
Keep all records and receipts for any appliance you still own until you no longer own it; then if you want to sell it you can offer the booklets, repair notes that came with it, as a selling point. Think of the lifetime of the thing, whether it's your relationship with an insurance company, or your relationship with your ruptured disc, or you and your vacuum. Time decisions sort of fit into the context of the whole of the thing.

Roseanna

April 8, 20100 found this helpful

I was told by my late husbands insurance company that I should hold on to his records for 10 years. He now is deceased for 10 1/2 years and I still have his records. I have a filing cabinet in my basement which holds those type of records as well as my own.

It may depend on the company also, doesn't hurt to double check with them.

Kathleen

April 14, 20100 found this helpful

Thank you for answering the questions and that does help my decision alot.

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