Medical Identity Theft

The rate of identity fraud might be down, but there's a new game in town: medical identity theft. Instead of worrying about whether someone is getting a new credit card in our name, now we have to worry about whether someone has had an operation in our name, running up astronomical medical bills and compromising our medical history.

You could be a victim of medical identity theft and not even know it. The first indication might be a bill for services you didn't receive, or an explanation of benefits from your insurance company.

You might not discover the problem for years, until you don't get a job because of a background check that turns up a medical problem that you don't have, or you are denied insurance -- or an incorrect blood type in your chart leads to a catastrophe.

Think about that: If you're rushed to the hospital, you could be treated based on inaccurate information in your records. Perhaps the blood type has been changed, or the list of allergies altered, when someone else has been a patient using your name.

Because of privacy laws, it can be extremely difficult to have corrections made. If someone changes your medical records enough, the only thing left of "you" might be your name, Social Security number and insurance number. The signature on medical forms might not even be yours, and you might be denied access to those records.

Ask your medical providers what steps they take to ensure that "you" are really you.

Keep a copy of all of your medical records. If you're ever a victim of medical identity theft, those records could go a long way toward establishing your identity and correcting your medical history.

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