It is fair to say that most, if not all, of us have heard about incidents of identity theft and the effect that such incidents can have on an individual’s finances. A stolen credit card number can be used to make unauthorized purchases. Stolen social security numbers have been used to file fraudulent income tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service.
However, did you know that identity theft can affect more than an individual’s financial well-being? There is a type of identity theft that can affect an individual’s health as well. This is known as medical identity theft. The World Privacy Forum, a nonprofit, non-partisan 501(c)(3) public interest research group focused on conducting in-depth research, analysis, and consumer education in the area of privacy, defines medical identity theft as follows:
“Medical identity theft occurs when someone uses a person’s name and sometimes other parts of their identity – such as insurance information or Social Security Number – without the victim’s knowledge or consent to obtain medical services or goods, or when someone uses the person’s identity to obtain money by falsifying claims for medical services and falsifying medical records to support those claims.”
It is clear from the definition above that perpetrators of medical identity theft have both a healthcare motive, receiving medical services or goods for which they may not otherwise qualify, and a financial motive by obtaining money via the submission of false claims for medical services. What may not be as apparent are the potential health risks to the victims of medical identity theft. In January 2010, the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection warned consumers about the potential health consequences of medical identity theft as follows:
“Medical identity theft may change your medical and health insurance records: Every time a thief uses your identity to get care, a record is created with the imposter’s medical information that could be mistaken for your medical information – say, a different blood type, an inaccurate history of drug or alcohol abuse, test results that aren’t yours, or a diagnosis of an illness, allergy or condition you don’t have. Any of these could lead to improper treatment, which in turn, could lead to injury, illness or worse.”
So what can you do to minimize your risk of becoming a victim of medical identity theft? The Department of Health & Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG) provides tips to detect, deter, and defend against medical identity theft. According to the OIG the key to deterring medical identity theft is taking steps to protect your personal information, such as guarding your Medicare and social security numbers carefully and being suspicious of anyone who requests your Medicare number as part of an offer for free medical equipment or services. If the medical equipment or services are free there is no need to provide your Medicare number.
The OIG suggests that you walk away if someone approaches you in parking lots, shopping centers, or other public areas and offers you free services, groceries, transportation, or other items in exchange for your Medicare number. Hang up the telephone if someone calls you claiming to be conducting a health survey and asks for your Medicare number. Never provide information to telephone marketers who pretend to be from Medicare or Social Security and ask for payment over the phone or Internet.
To defend yourself against the risk of medical identity theft, the OIG recommends that you check all medical bills, Medicare summary notices, explanation of benefits, and credit reports. Make sure that you were not charged for medical services or equipment that you did not receive. Verify that dates of service and related charges are correct. Check credit reports for any unpaid bills for medical services or equipment that you never received.
Although there is no foolproof way to prevent medical identity theft, taking the steps discussed above will hopefully go a long way toward protecting your medical well-being.
