The Horrors of Medical Identity Theft

By Paul Cameron

Medical identity theft occurs all too often, yet it's among the least reported and investigated types of identity theft. It is also the most dangerous form of identity theft.

Medical identity theft is one of the least reported and investigated forms of identity theft, yet it occurs shockingly often. This is also among the most hazardous kinds of identity theft because of the risk of somebody else's medical records being utilized to care for another person. If the wrong medications are given subsequent to an accident it can have fatal consequences. It could even possibly result in you being given the wrong kind of blood during an emergency if the other individual's blood type is on record and doesn't match yours.

This could also preclude you from getting life saving medications as a result of the other person's medical records being mixed up with yours. They may have an allergy to the drugs or have a condition that keeps the hospital from providing it to you if it's required. This list of potential outcomes is long and none of them are acceptable.

Doctors may label you as a drug seeker due to the other person's medications being confused as yours. If this occurs it may affect your ability to obtain particular medicines or you could even lose your job and be investigated by the police. If you work in the medical field you might even lose your license to practice.

Insurance fraud is likely the most common reason individuals carry out medical identity theft. This permits them to use your insurance data to get medical care. Not only might the premiums of your insurance go up, but you could be billed with co-pays and even the services that were not covered by your insurance policy. Also if your insurance is limited then it might not be available in the event that you need to use it.

If you don't or can't pay hospital bills that someone else may have run up in your name then it can impact your credit score and you could even be sued for these bills. This can impact your ability to get a car or home loan and may in some cases impact your employment. This means you could become stuck paying for somebody else's healthcare bills and you could even have your wages garnished before you know what is taking place.

Your medical records are used to determine whether or not you qualify for certain government benefits such as disability or social security. If someone uses your records to obtain these benefits for themselves then you could lose the ability to acquire these benefits for you and your family should the need arise. You could also be held accountable for paying the government back if it's believed that you are drawing these benefits while holding down a job and not reporting the earnings from your job.

To prevent medical identity theft you must be very cautious about permitting anybody to have your confidential information, and always be familiar with what is in your records in case of an emergency. If you need help then there are identity theft insurance companies that will safeguard your identity for you and inform you of any significant changes.

Once someone has stolen your identity it can take years to put things back as they ought to be. You'll most likely incur legal expenses and also you have the additional responsibility of proving that you are the real person and not the one who took the identity. - 32534

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