Medical Identity Theft Inflicts Suffering - Both Financial And Physical

There are several levels of medical identity theft. One level is where someone gets medical care under your name and using your insurance information. The idea is for them to receive the medical care and to leave you with the bill. You don't find out about it until you receive a bill from the doctor, lab, pharmacy or medical center requesting the balance your insurance didn't cover. Or you may not find out about until it affects your credit report. Perhaps the thieves gave a different address and you were never tipped off by receiving the bill which had gone to collections (and then reported to the credit reporting agencies).

This becomes more than just a financial problem and turns physical when the thief affects your actual medical records - meaning your records may now contain a diagnosis you really didn't get, or a procedure that you really didn't have which in turn affects future care, prescriptions and other health care decisions. And it can even influence future health insurance coverage and rates. Or you can be denied coverage altogether.

Another type of medical identity theft involves organized crime rings where corrupt health care workers (yes, even doctors) partake in using your medical information to file false claims with insurance companies. This is a multi-million dollar a year crime.

And now, with many doctor offices and medical centers utilizing paperless records and electronic claim submissions, stealing mass records is much easier. No need to copy or carry out boxes of patient files. Everything fits neatly on a flash drive.

So what can you do? As with other areas of identity theft, you need to be a bit diligent. Review your EOB's (explanation of benefits) from your insurance company. Perhaps on an annual basis request a complete list of payments made on your behalf from your insurance company.

And the usual advice applies here as well: keep your personal information private, surrendering it only on a 'need-to-know' basis and regularly monitor your credit report for suspicious activity.

For more information on how to protect yourself, check out my resources page for your Top 10 List Of Must Do's.

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