What Is Medical Identity Theft?
When you are talking about identity theft it means someone is stealing from you; more accurately, it means that someone is trying to make use of your personal information to get some or other amount of money, which would be your responsibility to repay. This is easy to understand. However, what is medical identity theft?
The Medical Identity Theft Explained
When someone commits medical identity theft he or she would be using your medical records and your medical insurance for their own benefit. Most of the times you would learn about the medical identity theft committed against you only when you would be in need of medical attention and when ironically you would have trouble getting.
This is how the thief does it. He or she uses your identity to receive treatment and the insurance company pays for it. The next time you need treatment you would find out that the funds are not covering your bills because of the previous treatment you availed. Unfortunately you would have no recollection of that "previous" treatment because the person treated was not you.
The Dangers Of Medical Identity Theft
When medical identity theft is committed you do not risk only the charges of fraud with the insurance company or loss of finances, but also the possibility of suffering from life threatening complications in the wake of the "previous" treatment. It is possible that your medical records now consists of a lot of information that is no longer applicable to you such as allergies, special medication, surgery requirement, etc. which would be extremely difficult to fight.
Some dangerous scenarios would be having the wrong blood group entered based on which information you could be given the wrong type blood causing serious complication and even death. You might have in your records that you were a substance abuser when you would have not even touched a cigarette in you whole life. In this case you might even risk arrest on the charges of possession of illegal drugs and you would not be able to prove that it was not you when the treatment was done last time.
You might be recorded as HIV positive or even having AIDS which could turn your life topsy turvy until you realize where the problem lies.
It is difficult to prevent such theft, but not impossible. Ensure that you check all your emails and mails regarding insurance and credit card bills. If you find the slightest discrepancy immediately try to find the reasons behind it. If there is any collection call addressed to you, though you have no knowledge of having taken any loan, immediately track the source down.
Always be careful and alert and you would be able to prevent and minimize the danger of any type of identity theft.
