Medical Identity Theft: 210 Hours to
A stranger's medical history could be sitting in your chart right now. Someone can go to a hospital and get care using your name. Then their blood type can end up listed as yours. Their allergies and their illnesses can end up in your chart too. Hospitals will believe that file over you. Is there a stranger in your chart tonight? By the end of this, you'll know how to check yours.
On average, victims spend about 210 hours. They spend those hours fixing their charts.
That number comes from NEAMB. A thief doesn't need a computer to get started. A lost wallet or paperwork you threw out is enough.
A thief only needs 5 minutes at the check-in desk. Nobody at the hospital gets warned.
Now the thief's visit is part of your medical history. The emergency doctor is going to trust that history. That doctor won't question what your chart says.
Every visit starts at the front desk.
First, a clerk takes a quick look at your ID. The clerk types your details into your chart. Now the thief is on your record.
If someone steals your credit card, your bank sends you alerts fast. With medical theft, you usually find out weeks or months later.
In Arizona, a woman named Jennifer O'Connor got a bill. Banner Health billed her $26,500 for care. But Shannon Smith was the one who got that care.
Smith used details she got from O'Connor's ex-husband. Smith's care added up to about $300,000. Smith got 8 and a half years in prison.
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Your chart doesn't fix itself. If nobody fixes them, some charts stay wrong for good.
With regular financial identity theft, the usual loss is about $500. Medical theft victims who ended up paying averaged $13,500. You can't fix your chart with one phone call.
Next, you ask the hospital to correct your chart. Hospitals can take up to 60 days to answer you. Some hospitals give themselves 30 more days.
Meanwhile, your chart still has the stranger's history in it. Any ER doctor could read your chart.
Unpaid bills in your name get sent to collectors. Bigger ones can then hit your credit report.
HIPAA is the law that protects your health privacy. But that same law can end up protecting the thief. Your hospital may refuse to show you the thief's records.
Your bank checks that it's really you every time you swipe your card. Hospitals usually check your ID only once. After that, hospitals just go by your name. Nobody ever checked your chart, they just trusted it.
Read every statement your insurance company sends you. Look for a visit you never actually made.
Shred your medical papers before you throw them out. Don't ever leave your insurance card lying around. Ask your doctor for a copy of your full chart.
Right now, a clerk just takes a quick look at one ID photo. Clinics could check that it's really your face every visit.
Let's say a statement shows a visit from a stranger. Call your insurance company that same day. Put your request to fix your chart in writing. Then you get each wrong line fixed, one by one.
CaraComp's write-up goes deeper into all of this. That page lists where you can report the theft.
HHS spells out a right that you have. You can ask to have wrong information fixed. Your hospital has to answer you.
Tell the FBI it's health care fraud. Tell HHS, because they're the ones who oversee health privacy. Warn Equifax and the other credit bureaus.
Those 210 hours add up fast. That's about 6 weeks of full-time work. Could your boss give you 6 weeks off?
At a hospital, whoever has your card gets treated as you. But your statements show every visit that got billed.
Tonight, pull out your insurance statements. Check every visit, every doctor, and every date. Circle any line you don't recognize.
Nobody's going to text you a warning first. Find that line before a doctor does.
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