Personal background checks are a good way for individuals to take control of their personal information and can help prevent identity theft. Recently, however, a new type of identity theft has appeared that may also be revealed during a personal background check: medical identity theft.
A New York Times article tells of a man from Houston, TX who had never stepped foot in an emergency room, but who ended up owing thousands of dollars worth of emergency-service medical bills. He is one of the more than 250,000 Americans – as estimated by federal data on the crime collected for a 2007 report – who suffer from the fast-growing crime known as medical identity theft each year.
The number victims of medical identity theft have probably increased in recent years because of the increased use of electronic medical records systems built without extensive safeguards. However, medical identity theft is also an uncountable crime – espeically those who do not check their personal information through background checks – because many people do not yet know that their medical information has been tampered with for months or even years until it shows up in collections on a credit report.
For example, the victim in Times story made the discovery of medical identity theft in 2003 and is “still cleaning up the mess.” He learned about the medical identity theft only because he was about to get married and buy his first home. Before applying for a mortgage, he requested a copy of his credit report – something that could be viewed during certain background checks – and was surprised to discover debts in the form of collection notices in his name for emergency room visits at places in the country he had never visited.
Medical identity theft can take on many guises:
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Someone gets hold of another person’s name and Social Security number and use them to receive emergency medical services, which many hospitals are obliged to provide whether or not a person has insurance.
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Someone uses stolen insurance information, like the basic member ID and group policy number found on insurance cards, to impersonate another person and receive everything from a routine physical to major surgery under someone else’s coverage.
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The most common cases involve medical information stolen by insiders at a medical office, where thieves download vital personal insurance data and related information from the operation’s computerized medical records to sell on the black market or use it themselves to make fraudulent billing claims.
Even worse, victims may also have erroneous information in their medical files, which could pose a bigger danger than the financial risks since the medical record may now contain vital information like blood type, allergic reactions, or disease history that is wrong. In an emergency, doctors could treat a medical identity theft victim based on this misinformation.
To help prevent medical identity theft – which has far fewer of the consumer protections that exist for traditional identity theft – and avoid fraudulent charges that can remain unpaid and unresolved for years, patients need to track insurance statements, check credit reports, and get copies of medical records. Patients who suspect medical identity theft may also want to give themselves a “Self Background Check” that includes a credit report and criminal background search to uncover any possible crimes committed in their names. These personal background checks are also a good way for individuals to correct any errors or inaccuracies that would appear on a background check done while trying to gain employment, rent an apartment, or volunteer for a non-profit organization.
While many background check firms only service employers, MyBackgroundCheck.com offers self background checks for individuals and has performed background checks for over one million people last year. Self background checks are also a good way to keep personal information current, secure, and accurate. For more information about how self background checks can help prevent medical identity theft, please visit www.mybackgroundcheck.com, email info@mybackgroundcheck.com, or call 1-800-503-2364.
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