Although often taken for granted, good health is treasure without equal.

Personal health information is also valuable, and lack of care with paper and electronic records could be costly.

Among the people who traffic in stolen data, health information is generally the most highly valued, said Jim Weldon, North Mississippi Health Services chief information officer.

“It’s so data rich,” Weldon said. “They call it the honey pot of records.”

Health data can be used for more traditional identity fraud where information is used to open accounts without an individual’s knowledge. It also is increasingly used to obtain medical care.

As with traditional identity theft, the target often is unaware until they get a bill for medical services they didn’t receive.

But the risk isn’t only to the pocket book with medical insurance fraud. Co-mingling the medical records of two people could create dangerous situations where confusion over allergies, previous surgeries and medications could result in the wrong care.

Handle with care
Personal health information should be handled with the same care as bank records and credit card numbers. They are valuable and vulnerable.

Paper

• Keep together in a safe place away from prying eyes.
• Mail payments and communications to health providers from post office, not home mail box.
• Shred to dispose, taking care to separate personal information and health information.
• Keep personal information separate from health information if keeping a written health record.

Digital

• Personal health information should be encrypted and password protected if storing on computer or smart phone.
• Do not use public wifi to access or manage health information.
• Be wary of exchanging private health information via unsecure text and email, especially if you did not initiate the contact.

Click here to read he full article.

By Michaela Gibson, Morris Daily Journal, January 19, 2018

Most savvy consumers are already on the lookout for online identity theft and are proactive about protecting their finances, but medical identity theft is an overlooked but pervasive crime that’s on the rise. The number of patients impacted by medical identity theft has increased nearly 22 percent in the last year alone.

Untangling medical identity theft is messy and difficult, especially if your children become victims. It’s not always obvious that your medical identity has been stolen until it’s too late.

Here are the signs to look for and how to take an aggressive approach to protecting your family from health care fraud.

• Scrutinize Your Healthcare Bills
• Check Your Family’s Credit Reports
• Run away from Free Medical Treatment
• Pay Attention to Errors in Medical Records

Click here to learn details about these points.

By Adm Brott, Talking About Men’s Health, January 11, 2018

A Grand Junction, Colo., woman who lives alone was moments away from falling victim to medical identity theft.

The woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, said, “He was with Medicare and he needed to update my information.”

She received a phone call insisting she give out her personal information.

“He started trying to catch me up, he had my phone number, he tried to tell me my email address which was incorrect, by a small measure, but it was incorrect.”

And it wasn’t until the caller began getting personal that she realized she was about to be scammed.

Immediately she hung up the phone, something millions don’t do when they receive a phone call like this. According to the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud, 2.3 million Americans were victims of medical identity theft in 2014.

Click here to watch the news clip and read the full article.

By Camila Barco, CBS KREX Channel 5, January 9, 2018

Medical identity theft has existed in various forms for decades, but it was in 2006 that World Privacy Forum published the first major report about the crime. The report called for medical data breach notification laws and more research about medical identity theft and its impacts. Since that time, medical data breach notification laws have been enacted, and other progress has been made, particularly in the quality of consumer complaint datasets gathered around identity theft, including medical forms of the crime.

The report also discusses new aspects of consumer harm resulting from the crime that the data has brought to light.

Summary of Findings and Recommendations
This report finds that medical identity theft is growing overall in the United States, however, there’s a catch. The consumer complaint data suggests that the crime is growing at different rates in different states and regions of the US, creating medical identity theft “hotspots.”

In addition to documenting geographic and growth patterns, the complaint data also documented significant and heretofore largely unreported patterns of harm related to debt collection resulting from medical identity theft, including debt collections documented to be one to three years in duration.

Key recommendations in the report include:

• The Department of Health and Human Services should facilitate the collection of follow up information from those affected by medical data breaches, specifically including data to document medical debt collection activity post-breach.
• Policymakers and law enforcement agencies should take regional and state hot spots suggested by the data into account when planning resources for medical identity theft deterrence, prevention, and remedies.
• Healthcare providers and related stakeholders need comprehensive risk assessments focused on preventing medical identity theft while protecting patient privacy.
• Patients, medical data breach victims, and other identity theft victims should be aware of states where medical identity theft is more active.
• The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau should monitor medical debt collection practices more closely and address abuses.

Click here to learn more.

Download the report here.

By Pam Dixon and John Emerson, World Privacy Forum, December 12, 2017

This year alone, victims of one type, ransomware, lost $5 billion dollars.

In the world of the dark web, 2017 is defined by devastating cyber attacks like the Equifax breach.

Here are Top 7 Cyber Security Threats for 2018:

• 1. Health Insurance Hacks. Medical identity theft is the most serious form of ID theft both personally and financially, it’s the only form of Identity theft that can actually kill you and it’s getting worse.
• 2. Cryptocurrency Scams
• 3. Ransomware Spike
• 5. Natural Disaster Scams
• 6. Attacks on Infrastructure
• 7. Hacking the “Internet of Things”

Click here to read the full article and understand details about these threats.

By Diane Lee, WSPA 7 News CBS, December 13, 2017

2017 Know Your Patient (KYP) Training Guide

This training deck for use by healthcare providers to aid in their understanding of medical identity fraud and to inform their processes regarding patient identity.

Key points include:

1. Definition of Know Your Patient and its importance.

2. Understanding your patient identity risks.

3. Identity proofing and verification, including validation checks.

4. Gathering proofing materials.

It also includes a links to standards and other useful information regarding identity management.

The information in the slide deck does not constitute “best practices” or “industry guidelines” and should not be viewed as such. The information may be used as a general body of knowledge and reference material.

The information is meant to be used and adapted to a variety of organizations and is not meant as a one-size-fits-all guide to patient identity verification.

Users of any information offered in this paper should adapt it to their individual environments.

Download the slide deck here.

Supplemental information on synthetic identity fraud ]]> https://medidfraud.org/fight-fraud-by-guarding-your-medicare-card/ Mon, 27 Nov 2017 16:53:41 +0000 https://medidfraud.org/?p=4060 If you have Medicare, you can protect your identity and help prevent health care fraud by guarding your Medicare card like you would a credit card.

Identity theft arising from stolen Medicare numbers is becoming more common. Medicare is in the process of removing Social Security numbers from Medicare cards and replacing them with a new, unique number for each person with Medicare.

Medicare will mail new Medicare cards with the new numbers between April 2018 and April 2019.

The new card won’t change your Medicare coverage or benefits. And there’s no charge for your new card.

But watch out for scammers.

Thieves may try to get your current Medicare number and other personal information by contacting you about your new Medicare card. They may claim to be from Medicare and use various phony pitches to get your Medicare number, such as:

• Asking you to confirm your Medicare or Social Security number so they can send you a new card.
• Telling you there’s a charge for your new card and they need to verify your personal information.
• Threatening to cancel your health benefits if you don’t share your Medicare number or other personal information.

Don’t share your Medicare number or other personal information with anyone who contacts you by phone, email, or by approaching you in person, unless you’ve given them permission in advance.

Click here to read the full article.

By Greg Dill, Red Bluff Daily News, November 23, 2017

According to the Federal Trade Commission, medical identity theft occurs when a thief uses “your name or health insurance numbers to see a doctor, get prescription drugs, file claims with your insurance provider, or get other care. If the thief’s information is mixed with yours, your treatment, insurance and payment records, and credit report may be affected.”

If you were affected by a data breach, pay close attention to doctor bills, health insurance Explanation of Benefits (EOB) statements and Health Savings Account (HSA) information. Keep an eye out for things such as:

• Getting a bill or EOB for medical services you didn’t receive./li>
• Being contacted by a debt collection service about medical debt you were not aware of./li>
• While the financial fallout from identity theft can usually be resolved, any fraudulent changes to your medical records can be difficult to correct, so it’s important to catch the fraud early./li>

If you do find yourself a victim of medical identity theft, remember you have certain rights when dealing with medical providers, such as doctors’ offices, hospitals, nursing homes, etc.

Click here to read the full article.

By Kerry Kremke, Nebraska BlueCross BlueShield, November 21, 2017

According to the Identity Theft Resource Center, more than 171 million Americans have had their personal records exposed to hackers between January and mid-October this year. And while run-of-the-mill ID theft is a huge hassle to deal with, most ID theft victims shelled out just $55 in 2015 to deal with the problem. On the other hand, medical ID theft victims spent nearly $13,500, including paying off fraudulent medical bills.

The damaging impact of medical identity theft
In 3% of cases, medical ID theft victims lost their jobs, 19% said they lost out on potential jobs, and the vast majority of respondents said they ended up embarrassed by the disclosure of sensitive healthcare information. In some cases, medical ID theft victims found themselves in trouble with the law over charges that they’d illegally procured prescription drugs.

Victims also miss out on medical care or reimbursement by seeing their medical claims denied, losing access to their health insurance, being forced to pay to restore their insurance coverage, or being unable to access their own medical records. That’s in addition to the damage to credit scores and the loss of time and productivity victims experience as they work to straighten out their credit histories and files.

How can you protect yourself?
The first step is to closely watch your medical records, medical bills/ statements, and any communications or notices you get from benefits providers, health plans, doctors, medical labs and other healthcare providers. The three most common ways that medical ID theft victims discovered they’d been ripped-off was from errors on medical bills or collection letters, discovering mistakes in their health records from treatments given to someone else, or mistakes in their health insurer’s explanation of benefits.

Click here to read the full article.

By Brian O’Connor, Experian, October 25, 2017

What Medical Identity Theft Really Is
Medical identity theft is a specific category of identity theft crime that involves the stealing of a name and/or health insurance numbers in order to obtain prescription drugs, use the victim’s insurance provider to file claims, get appointments with doctors, or receive other health-related care.

Identity theft and scam expert Rob Douglas explained that “of the many types of identity theft, medical identity theft poses the greatest risk to the physical safety of victims.” He also went on to say that “once a medical identity thief fraudulently obtains healthcare in your name, and that treatment becomes part of your electronic healthcare record, your healthcare may be placed in jeopardy. After all, your medical history, current and future diagnoses, and treatment could be compromised because of the treatment the identity thief received.”

Why the Medical Field Is Targeted
There are a few reasons behind why identity theft criminals are focusing in on the medical field:

One reason corresponds with the lifespan of the crime itself. Stolen medical data is significantly more difficult to retrieve or cancel than financial data. For example, if a person’s medical records are stolen, the victim cannot simply put a hold on or cancel their medical history like they can with a credit card. Therefore, the identity theft criminal can use/abuse the stolen information for a longer period of time.

Another motivation behind medical identity theft lies with the vast amount of people that can be targeted through medical institutions. Millions of people’s information can be found in medical databases, which makes the medical field a definite target. Basically, the more people seek health care, the more information there is to be stolen. Health care data greatly outnumbers that of financial data.

How to Avoid Being the Victim

• Regularly monitor your medical records and know how to look for errors or false information.
• Be cautious with whom you share your health information with. Strive to only give your medical information to trusted medical professionals.
• Try to refrain from using free, public wifi services. If you do use public wifi, do not access any private information, especially medical data.
• Be wary of free medical services/treatments as they can be a part of a medical identity theft scam.
• Contact insurers and providers regarding health care charges and bills that were not received. It’s a good habit to do this even if your insurance covers procedures/medical visits.

Click here to read he full article and learn more about protecting yourself.

By Alayna Pehrson, Best Company, October 3, 2017