Health insurance is meant to provide access to essential treatments and emergency care. Unfortunately, it’s also become a playground for scammers.

In February, Change Healthcare suffered a cyber-attack affecting thousands of healthcare providers, insurers, and policyholders nationwide. Reports suggest that up to 50% of U.S. medical claims could be at risk! This means if you’re in a waiting room with nine others, chances are, five of you could fall victim to medical identity theft this year. Once your medical data is compromised, identity thieves can file false claims, buy costly prescriptions, and bill them all to your account.

The shocking part is how people are discovering they’ve been affected. Some face tax or mortgage fraud, while others find out at the doctor’s office that their insurance won’t cover needed procedures because their benefits have been exhausted by fraudulent claims. It turns out, they didn’t undergo any other procedures that year—someone stole their medical ID and used it for their own gain.

And it’s not just individuals who are at risk. Unscrupulous organizations can exploit your medical info for fraudulent billing schemes, submitting false claims for services you never received and leaving you with the bill. In July alone, 193 defendants, including 76 licensed medical professionals, were charged with health care fraud schemes amounting to $2.75 billion in false billings. Medical fraud is real!

How to Spot Medical Identity Theft

Here are 10 signs that your medical ID might be stolen and misused by cybercriminals:

  1. Unexpected Medical Bills: Receiving bills for services you didn’t get.
  2. Collection Notices: Getting contacted by debt collectors for unpaid medical bills that aren’t yours.
  3. Errors in Medical Records: Finding inaccuracies in your records, such as treatments you never had or unfamiliar diagnoses.
  4. Insurance Issues: Claims being denied because your benefits are exhausted or you’ve reached your coverage limit, despite not using the services.
  5. Insurance Notifications: Alerts from your insurer about unfamiliar claims or services.
  6. Unknown Accounts: Discovering new health insurance accounts or medical records under your name that you didn’t create.
  7. EOB Discrepancies: Explanation of Benefits (EOB) statements listing services you didn’t receive.
  8. Denied Insurance: Difficulty obtaining life or health insurance due to conditions listed in your records that you don’t have.
  9. Calls from Medical Providers: Receiving calls about appointments or treatments you didn’t schedule.
  10. Unfamiliar Prescriptions: Notices about prescriptions filled in your name that you did not authorize.

How to Prevent Medical ID Fraud

Protect yourself from becoming a victim of medical identity theft with these steps:

  1. Check for Breaches: Use searchable databases to see if your health information has been compromised.
  2. Secure Records: Store paper medical records in a safe or lockbox.
  3. Shred Documents: Shred documents with personal info before disposal.
  4. Monitor Medical Records: Regularly review your records for unfamiliar treatments or discrepancies.
  5. Review Insurance Bills: Scrutinize EOB statements for unknown charges and report them immediately. Check with your insurer and report errors to credit bureaus.
  6. Dispose of Prescription Labels: Remove labels from prescription bottles before discarding.
  7. Monitor Credit: Get your free annual credit reports to track suspicious activity.

Healthcare will always be a target for hackers. It’s crucial to take proactive measures to protect yourself. We offer a FREE Dark Web Scan to check if your information is for sale or if you’ve been affected by a data breach. To schedule your scan, call us at 630-320-3723 or click here.