-DATA BREACHES AND MEDICAL IDENTITY THEFT
-THE NATIONAL HEALTH INFORMATION NETWORK AND MEDICAL IDENTITY THEFT
-CURRENT AUDIT SYSTEMS DO NOT RESOLVE THE PROBLEM
-DIGITAL SECURITY ISSUES IN THE NHIN AND OTHER HIGHLY DIGITIZED, VIRTUALIZED ENVIRONMENTS
-PHYSICAL SECURITY ISSUES IN A MEDICAL ENVIRONMENT

Medical identity theft occurs when someone uses a person’s name and sometimes other parts of their identity – such as insurance information or Social Security Number– without the victim’s knowledge or consent to obtain medical services or goods, or when someone uses the person’s identity to obtain money by falsifying claims for medical services and falsifying medical records to support those claims.

STATISTICS SPECIFIC TO MEDICAL IDENTITY THEFT
Federal Trade Commission Medical Identity Theft Complaints
Social Security Administration/Office of Inspector General (SSA/OIG) Hotline Data
FTC 2003 Identity Theft Survey
Identity Theft Resource Center 2003 and 2004 Survey
Number of Prosecutions
Conclusions regarding the medical identity theft indicators
BACKGROUND: GENERAL STATISTICS ON IDENTITY THEFT
BACKGROUND: GENERAL STATISTICS ON HEALTH CARE FRAUD
Hotline Statistics
Referrals the Inspector General’s Office of HHS took Some Form of Action On

The evidence of harm to real people from medical identity theft is unambiguous. Victims may find themselves in situations where they suffer financial losses, are billed for services that do not actually belong to them, and more. Consider these recent cases from the FTC Consumer Sentinel Hotline dating from 2006:

COLLECTION NOTICES

RECEIPT OF SOMEONE ELSE’S BILLS

NOTIFICATION BY LAW ENFORCEMENT OR AN INSURANCE COMPANY

NOTIFICATION BY A HEALTH CARE PROVIDER

MEDICAL PROBLEM AT AN EMERGENCY ROOM

NOTIFICATION OF DATA BREACH BY A MEDICAL PROVIDER

DENIAL OF INSURANCE COVERAGE, NOTIFICATION THAT BENEFITS HAVE RUN OUT, OR “LIFETIME CAP” HAS BEEN REACHED

REVIEW OF EXPLANATION OF MEDICAL BENEFITS NOTICES