Archive for December 31st, 2009
Lionheart Assurance Solutions Presents What Should I Know About Medical Identity Theft
Most of us carry medical insurance to cover unforeseen problems, as long as we can afford it. Our insurance means we have a unique medical identity, including our health histories, personal information, bills paid, what we pay for insurance and what our account will pay for. This can be a real problem if someone decides to steal that medical identity.
It’s a fact – someone else who gets your insurance number and personal information can use them to pay for their own medical expenses. This includes drugs, surgery, expensive treatments and more. Medical records and information may be falsified and new ones created. If the thief gets away with this, you could end up being charged for what your insurance won’t pay, or discover that your legitimate problems aren’t covered anymore. You’ve become a victim of medical identity theft without even knowing it.
It can be extremely difficult to prove that your identity has been stolen in this way, however. After all, the information and records are on computers in hospitals and insurance agencies all over. Sometimes, people even get the help of a doctor or other medical professional to commit this kind of fraud. That’s why it’s so important to be ready for it.
The Possible Consequences
The biggest impact of medical identity theft is financial. Victims of this kind of theft have credit problems, may have to deal with debt collectors, and might have trouble getting a job. They may also have trouble dealing with the fake entries in their medical identity. After all, if a new insurer believes you’ve had treatment for an illness you haven’t had, they may consider it to be a pre-existing condition. Even if you check your credit report on a regular basis, it may be hard to see the problem.
What Can You Do
Recovering your medical identity under current law is difficult. Since medical records are secret, it can take a long time to find out what happened. Ideally, you should select an insurance company that has transparency of records (to you) and regularly updates credit reports. There are also a number of websites you can check to find out other possible actions.
Most of the time, people who suffer from this kind of theft have a hard time recovering. Since they don’t have the right to change their own medical files, and since information is hard to get to, it may never be fixed. This is why anyone with medical insurance should make sure their credit information and all other data from the insurance company is correct. Lionheart Assurance Solutions recommends that you keep track of your paid bills and keep a close eye on your personal data to reduce your chances of becoming a victim.