What You Can Do If Your Medical Identity Has Been Stolen

According to the American Health Information Management Association, medical identity theft accounts for 3% of all identity theft crimes. 250,000 people a year have their medical identities stolen. Those particularly at risk are the elderly, newborns, minors, people on registries e.g. cancer registry, individuals with developmental disabilities, and dead people.

The major question is: What happens when a medical identity thief uses your name, social security number, and medical insurance information to get services from doctors, emergency rooms, and pharmacies? The answer is a false medical record is created in your name. When you go to get medical services, your treatment is now based on the thief's blood type, allergies, prescription drug use, and a history of his/her diseases, and you could die.

If you live, your life becomes a nightmare as it is difficult to get your medical identity back. You can't even get a copy of your medical records as your information is mixed in with the thief's information. The federal law known as Hipaa (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) regulates that the thief's medical information must be kept confidential.

Ten Steps to Get Your Medical Record Corrected:

1. Contact the health information manager or the anti-fraud hotline of the health plan where the medical identity theft occured.
2. Request a copy of your medical records.
3. Work with the health plan to stop the flow of incorrect information and correct the existing inaccurate health record entries.
4. File a police report.
5. File a complaint with the attorney general.
6. File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission's Identity Theft Data Clearinghouse.
7. Contact the Department of Health and Human Services for Medicare and Medicaid fraud.
   
8. Check with state authorities for resources.
9. Review health records to make sure they have been corrected before prior to seeking new healthcare insurance.
10. Change all personal identification numbers and passwords.

It can take years to correct your record using these methods. It must be done on a case-by-case basis as the thief's medical information may be hidden in complex payment systems, databases, and medical records of healthcare providers and insurance companies. Until such time as all your records are corrected, you could be denied additional health, disability, or life insurance, and your credit could be ruined.

I want to share with you the way I protect my medical identity. I just love having an Identity Protection Service as it monitors my social security number and medical insurance information every day for medical fraud, insurance records, and criminal records. Should my medical identity be stolen, a team of professionals will help me correct it.

Check List to Determine Whether an Identity Protection Service Would be Good For You:

• Would you like to quickly know if your identity theft has been stolen?
• Would you like a professional team to help you recover your identity?
• Would you like the team to call the agencies and do the paper work for you?
• Would you like your family to be protected?
• Would you like to have an affordable Expense Reimbursement Insurance Policy?

It would be my pleasure to share with you a safe and secure way to live and be healthy without stress and fear.