Medical Identity Theft

What is Medical Identity Theft?

Over the past several years, few crimes in the United States have been more overlooked than medical identity theft. While other types of fraud and identity theft are widely reported, information on medical identity theft is still relatively scarce. So what is medical identity theft exactly?

Typically, it occurs when someone uses your name or identity to receive medical services. Common examples of identity theft include using some else’s health insurance or using another person’s identification in the emergency room. Since hospitals aren’t likely to turn down anyone injured or sick, the crime has been fairly easy to get away with.

One of the main reasons why there’s still little information on medical identity theft is that it’s very difficult to track. Many medical identity theft victims don’t realize their identity has been stolen for months or even years. That means the criminal is usually long gone by the time anyone figures out a crime has been committed. The crime can even be deadly for victims. Medical records could be updated with inaccurate information. With the incorrect medical records, doctors could inadvertently provide the wrong treatment to medical identity theft victims. Here’s some information about what you can do if you ever fall victim to medical identity theft:

How to Resolve the Problem

• First things first, if you know for sure that you’ve been a victim of medical identity theft, you should report the crime to the police immediately. Although some police departments may not be fully equipped to handle the situation, they should at least be willing to take your information and write out a police report. Even if the police can’t actually find the person responsible for the crime, having a police report can go a long way in clearing your name of the fraudulent charges.
• You should request a copy of your credit report from each of the three major credit bureaus. It should contain information about any outstanding medical bills in your name, which will allow you to pinpoint when and where they occurred. This information may be helpful to the police in investigating the crime.
• As soon as possible, contact your health insurance company and medical providers. Let them know someone was fraudulently using your identity to obtain medical attention and that you want to dispute any charges. You should also send or fax a copy of the police report to your medical provider and health insurance company.
• Request copies of your medical records from every medical provider you’ve had in the past several years. With any luck the records will contain information referring to the criminal that stole your identity. You can then dispute this information and have it removed from your records.