When Identity Theft Becomes Dangerous
You may be familiar with identity theft. Someone steals your social security, bank account, or even driver’s license number. Maybe they use your debit card number to drain your checking account. Or parlay your good credit record into cash and purchases for themselves, leaving you responsible for payment.
Just as deplorable, and possibly physically dangerous, is the growing problem of medical identity theft. A thief steals your medical identity – your health insurance identification number, or Medicare ID - then begins receiving medical care under your name. Later, when you see a doctor yourself or visit the emergency room, your records and medical identity may get mixed up. Perhaps the imposter who stole your medical identity needed special treatment for diabetes or heart disease, but you don’t. Your blood types may get mixed up, or a host of other medical problems could arise. Such thievery can threaten your life and your wallet.
Medical identity theft affects at least 250,000 Americans each year. The numbers are rising.
Now the Federal Trade Commission is asking your doctor to jump into the medical identity theft prevention ring. The FTC “Red Flags Rule” was set to go into effect June 1, but was delayed until December 31. The rule says your doctor must confirm your social security number, and therefore your identity, for each visit. A mismatch creates a red flag.
Most doctors are not fans of this new rule and are pleased it has been delayed. Patients have mixed feelings. True, we don’t want anyone stealing our identities. But most doctors’ offices are paper-based, meaning our social security numbers cannot be secured anyway. Nothing prevents an entire host of employees, building maintenance, sales people or others from accessing personal information that could easily be sold to identity thieves.
What can we patients do to protect ourselves while we wait for better protections to be put in place?
It’s more important than ever that we regularly request and review copies of our medical records, from doctor’s office notes, to test results, to insurance paperwork. Examine your records carefully to be sure any services listed were provided to you, and not someone else. Further, before throwing it away, shred any paperwork that contains personal health information so it can’t be stolen from your trash or recycling, just as you do financial records.
The life and identity you save may be your own.
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Learn more about avoiding the consequences of medical identity theft. | 
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Trisha Torrey
is the author of
You Bet Your Life!
The 10 Mistakes
Every Patient Makes
(How to Fix Them
to Get the
Health Care You Deserve)
It expands on the articles found
on this site, providing an
exposé of the problems that
exist in the healthcare system,
and tools you can use to get the care you deserve.
....
Learn more about
You Bet Your Life!
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