I’ve received inquiries concerning last month’s column about maintaining medical records online.
While I think this is a wise course of action for many of us, it certainly isn’t without potential risks. Therefore, just as I opined on the subject of personal health records, or PHR, this week’s column warns readers about compromising this data, which then could lead to medical identity theft.
As the term implies, medical ID theft allows the bad guys access to our health records rather than our financial information. And guess what these crooks discover? Yep, that all-important Social Security information, and credit/debit card information if the patient ever used his card(s) to pay for the medical services.
Worse and even harder to believe, medical ID theft gives thieves even more access than those vital numbers: health insurance facts and medical histories.
This scam is a huge moneymaker for criminals; with our information in hand, they forge insurance ID cards to sell to uninsured people who need expensive medical treatments but, otherwise, cannot afford these therapies. With your info in hand, including Social Security number and health insurance policy, the buyers receive the treatments (or at least some) they need and then vanish, leaving you to hold the bag for co-pays and/or uncovered procedures.
And don’t think you can straighten out the mess in a short time.
As readers know, I continually preach not to give out Social Security numbers. In fact, I often state if an individual is insured, medical practitioners need only your insurance card information in order to get paid for services rendered. But if I’m now alerting folks about health insurance thievery, what can consumers do to avoid this increasingly-common practice? According to Joy Pritts, founding director of the Center on Medical Rights and Privacy at Georgetown University’s Health Policy Institute, Washington, D.C., extreme caution is key to keeping private information private:
n Never leave your insurance card out to be seen by just anyone. (Remember those camera phones whirling around snapping photos of all kinds of personal documentation unbeknownst to us innocents.) Even if you’re too sick to pick up a prescription, don’t hand over your card to your kind neighbor who’s offered to run to the pharmacy for you, unless you know this person very well. Along these same lines, be careful about reading your card number over the phone or out loud if anyone other than immediate family is around.
n Always open and read medical bills and “explanation of benefits” statements immediately upon their arrival. Of course, you should check to see what the insurance company pays for any given service. More importantly, though, if either describes treatments, physicians and so forth you either don’t recall or are in error, then immediately contact any and all facilities and the insurance company.
If no satisfactory answer follows (such as a billing error), inform them you’re a victim of medical identity theft. Follow up these calls with letters to these same persons, and mail the letters certified return receipt requested. Be sure to iterate the circumstances, request the bills be voided, and your records amended to state that you do not have the heath problem(s) and did not receive the treatments/services. (Be sure to keep HIPAA policies from all medical providers. Your rights concerning inaccurate information are spelled out in each policy.)
— Call the police and write to your state’s attorney general (www.naag.org). Just as authorities these days must investigate “regular” identity theft (though sometimes without much determination, unfortunately), they also must try to track down this type of thief. Even if the locals don’t do jack, you’ll still have a copy of the police report and the A-G’s letter for all those bill collectors who come calling, as well as any other medical provider you might need for the future.
In fact, go ahead and call every provider you use and follow up the calls in writing. Tell each one what’s happened and ask them to correct your records if any inaccurate information shows up. Again, include a copy of the police report and your letter to the A-G.
— Call the Big Three credit bureaus and set up a fraud alert with each. Ask for free reports in addition to the freebies you request yearly and meticulously check for any fraudulent accounts opened in your name. Keep these fraud phone numbers handy: Equifax 888-766-0008; Experian 888-3973742; Trans Union — 800-680-7289.
Secondly, call and write any and all credit or debit card issuers if you’ve used either or both to pay medical bills. Go a step further to protect yourself by canceling these cards and asking for new ones.
— Inspect your medical records for mistakes at least every three years. Even if you’ve stashed copies for your use as I’ve recommended and in a secure location, errors are still too prevalent.
Legally, we’re entitled to receive a copy of our records from any office or hospital where we’ve been treated. Even though some providers may charge what we might consider an unreasonable fee, if you can financially swing the payment, you’ll rest easier knowing your files haven’t been intercepted by some jerk out to make a quick few bucks at your expense.
Free online publications that explain medical rights for records by state and the District of Columbia may be obtained from http://ihcrp.georgetown.edu/privacy/records.html.)
Ellen Phillips is a retired English teacher who has written two consumer-oriented books. Her Consumer Watch column appears on Saturdays in the Business section of the paper. An expanded version is at www.timesfreepress.com under Local Business. E-mail her at consumerwatch@timesfreepress.com
