Why you want a Copy of your Medical Records

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After receiving medical treatment, many people never look over the paperwork (save for bill total) and just shove it into some folder in a file cabinet. But medical identity theft is very much out there; know the signs:12D

  • You’re denied coverage because you allegedly have a condition you were never diagnosed with.
  • A collection agency is hounding you about unpaid medical bills you never had.
  • Your credit report shows medical collection notices.
  • The bill is for treatment you didn’t receive.
  • Your health care provider says you’ve reached your coverage limit.

Thieves steal identities to use the victim’s medical coverage, and this could prove life threatening to the victim depending on the victim’s health status. This is why you should keep records for all medical visits and treatments. Read everything carefully as though you’re searching for mistakes or mis-matched information. Keep records of all associated phone calls and e-mails.

But remember this: You always have a right to all of your records, so don’t let any resistance from the carrier make you give up.

  • If you run into problems getting any records, learn about your state’s health privacy laws.
  • Obtaining copies may require a fee.
  • Request a copy of “accounting of disclosures.” This tells who has ever received copies of your medical records, and when and why.
  • Look for mistakes and request corrections from the provider via certified mail.
  • If someone has stolen your medical identity, the provider may not want to turn over the records to you. Check the provider’s Notice of Privacy Practices and appeal to the contact person listed there.
  • With all that said, you should get the records within 30 days. If not, report this to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights.

Medical identity theft can result in you not receiving coverage for major treatment. Here are tips from vitals.lifehacker.com for prevention of this crime:

  • Never reveal your Medicare number to anybody in public, even if it’s a person inside a medical clinic lobby approaching you and offering a free service for Medicare users.
  • Never give your Medicare number over the phone. No exceptions, even if the caller is claiming to be from Medicare.
  • Check all medical bills for any odd charges, duplicate charges or errors.
  • If a charge appears unauthorized, promptly report it to the provider. If that doesn’t help, escalate it to Medicare if you’re on Medicare.
  • Contact the Federal Trade Commission if you suspect medical identity theft.

Robert Siciliano is an identity theft expert to BestIDTheftCompanys.com discussing identity theft prevention.

Medical Identity Theft can be deadly

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Every time you have a medical procedure done, including routine checkups and treatment for minor issues, paperwork is generated. You should have copies of every single paper. This is one line of defense against medical identity theft.

Review your paperwork thoroughly for unauthorized or duplicate charges, mistakes with diagnoses, dates, names, anything that looks odd. Signs of medical identity theft include:

  • Being billed for treatment or diagnostics you never received.
  • Being told you’ve maxed out your coverage limit when you haven’t.
  • A collection agency claiming you owe a debt that you don’t owe.
  • Being denied coverage for a “pre-existing” condition that you don’t have.
  • Paperwork showing you saw a doctor you never did or were prescribed a drug you never were is a red flag.
  • An e-mail from your provider that requests you reveal sensitive information like your Medicare number is a big red flag. The subject line may be urgent, such as “Your Medical Coverage May Be Terminated.” Never click links inside these e-mails or fill out forms in them; instead contact your provider via phone. However, e-mails like these are scams; the thief knows if he sends 50,000 such e-mails out with his special software, a predictable percentage of recipients will “see” themselves in the message.
  • A one-ring phone call may be a thief who just obtained your medical records to see if your number is legitimate. Never call back.

Be Vigilant

  • If you suspect medical identity theft, keep strict records of all associated correspondence.
  • Immediately obtain all records if you already haven’t, including the “accounting of disclosures”; you have this legal right, even if you get flack from the provider. Contact the provider’s patient representative or ombudsman for assistance.
  • If you spot mistakes, even small, insist they be corrected.

Nevertheless, it’s usually not easy to detect medical ID theft. So let’s look at this in more detail:

  • If a collection agency contacts you, request they provide information immediately; promptly contact your provider and carrier.
  • Examine your credit report to see if it’s plummeted due to unpaid medical bills. The three major credit reporting agencies issue the reports free.
  • If your provider offers online access to your files, sign up for this service, then inspect it for mistakes.
  • Request records of imaging procedures.
  • If no online access is available, have your doctor read the results or send a snail mail copy.

Robert Siciliano is an identity theft expert to BestIDTheftCompanys.com discussing identity theft prevention.

Medical Identity Theft Protection And Prevention

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Identity theft can be fatal to the victim — if it’s of the medical kind. Medical ID theft can result in getting the wrong blood type during a transfusion, the wrong diagnosis or the wrong prescription — all because the thief’s medical history gets integrated with the victim’s.

4DI hope you’re scared, because that’s my goal.

Up to 43 percent of ID theft is medical, says the Identity Theft Resource Center. The nonfatal fallout of medical identity theft can be quite dastardly, like the crook using your private data to commit other forms of ID theft.

Prevent Medical ID Theft

  • Always review your medical bills. Is a bill for service your child never received?
  • Never give your health insurance card to anyone for their use.
  • Shred medical documents you no longer need, including prescription information.
  • Every year, examine your credit report from the big three outfits.
  • Give your health insurance card the same protection you’d give a credit card. Contact your insurance company asap if it gets lost. In police reports, include it as a loss if it’s stolen.
  • If news breaks of a data breach involving a company you use, inquire about this.
  • Be especially alert to reviewing documents if you’ve been receiving extensive medical treatment.

Suspicious Activity

  • Call the provider and insurance carrier if you spot an unfamiliar charge on a medical bill.
  • Save all relevant documents and record the names of every person you connect with and the dates.
  • Contact the big three credit reporting agencies.
  • Filing a police report may be necessary.
  • If you’ve already been the victim of medical ID theft, inquire about the accuracy of your records with your provider, and request a copy of the records.

Robert Siciliano is an identity theft expert to BestIDTheftCompanys.com discussing  identity theft prevention. For Roberts FREE ebook text- SECURE Your@emailaddress -to 411247. Disclosures.

Cheating and Bullying: It’s a Bigger Problem than You Think!

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The whole purpose of your “youth” is to grow and learn. It’s time to take in lots of information, so ultimately they can evolve, accomplish, and get ahead. However the pressure to grow and climb the ladder of life often leads to unwanted behaviors and actions that lead to significant negative consequences. And with everyone being online these days, it only adds to these consequences.

Technology has really added fuel to the fire for two well-known tween-teenage activities: bullying and cheating. Bullying has moved from the playground to online and cheating has a whole new realm beyond writing information on your hand or arm.

According to McAfee’s 2013 Digital Deception: Exploring the Online Disconnect between Parents and Kids study, children are witnessing bullying online in great numbers and parents are not fully aware of the issues. Additionally, children are continuing to find ways to use technology to cheat, while only half of the parents of cheating kids believed they had done so.

Cyberbullying

Social media isn’t all fun and games – 89% of all youth (ages 10-23) surveyed say they witnessed mean behavior on Facebook and 40% on Twitter.

Kids don’t outgrow bullying – 17% of children ages 10-12 say they have witnessed mean behavior directed at a classmate or friend online, but that number jumps to 34% for young adults ages 18-23.

Parents don’t know the full extent of the problem – Only 9% of parents believe their child or children have witnessed cruel behavior online; even worse, only 6% think that their son or daughter has been a target of this cyber bullying, when in reality 13% of youth report they have been targeted online.

Peer pressure spreads to the Internet – 4% of youth said they’ve been pressured into bullying someone online.

Cheating

It’s a bigger problem than you think – More than half of all 13-23 year olds surveyed admitted to looking up the answer to a test or assignment online; only 17% of parents believe their child has done so.

Smartphones are making us dumber – While only 10% of 10-12 year olds said they had cheated on at test using a cell phone, this percentage doubles when looking at 18-23 demographic.

The Internet is teaching kids things you don’t want them to know – Only 2% of parents believe their child has ever cheated on a test using a technique they found online when in reality more than 1 in every 10 youth surveyed admitted to doing so.

Growing up is hard to do – More than a quarter of young adults ages 18-23 cheated with help from technology as opposed to 14% of 10-12 year olds.

So what do we as parents do to help change this negative behaviors? We must stay in-the-know. Since your kids have grown up in an online world, they may be more online savvy than you, but you can’t give up. You must challenge yourselves to become familiar with the complexities of the teen online universe and stay educated on the various devices your teens are using to go online.

Make sure you talk to your kids about Internet safety and what is and is not appropriate behavior online.

Establish clear guidelines that you all agree on including time spent online, and what type of content is ok post online.

Teach your kids to recognize cyberbullying and encourage them to talk to you about it.

Learn what your kids are doing with their mobile devices while they are in and out of school. It may surprise you to know how much time they are spending on them.

Consider using tools to help keep your kids safe online and support family Internet rules. Parental control software such as McAfee Safe Eyes lets you protect your kids from inappropriate sites and stay informed about their online activities.

Robert Siciliano is an Online Security Expert to McAfee. He is the author of 99 Things You Wish You Knew Before Your Mobile was Hacked!  (Disclosures)

 

Data Breaches Persist In Health Care

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In September 2009, the Obama administration’s Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act went into effect, requiring hospitals and other health care organization to beef up client data protections. Despite this, a recent study found that health care data is still hemorrhaging from peer to peer networks.

A peer-to-peer, commonly abbreviated to P2P, is any distributed network architecture composed of participants that make a portion of their resources (such as processing power, disk storage or network bandwidth) directly available to other network participants, without the need for central coordination instances (such as servers or stable hosts).

In simple terms, P2P is software installed on your PC and others PCs that allows the sharing of data from each others computers.
Computerworld reports, “One of the more than 3,000 files discovered by the researchers was a spreadsheet containing insurance details, personally identifying information, physician names and diagnosis codes on more than 28,000 individuals. Another document contained similar data on more than 7,000 individuals. Many of the documents contained sensitive patient communications, treatment data, medical diagnoses and psychiatric evaluations. At least five files contained enough information to be classified as a major breach under current health-care breach notification rules.”

In my own research, digging through P2P networks, I’ve uncovered tax returns, student loan applications, credit reports and Social Security numbers. I’ve found family rosters which include usernames, passwords and Social Security numbers for entire families. I’ve found Christmas lists, love letters, private photos, videos, and just about anything else that can be saved as a digital file.

It’s no surprise data is still leaking. File sharing technologies are easier and more user friendly than ever. Faster broadband connections coupled with faster PCs and bigger hard drives make downloading files a snap. Insurance companies, doctor’s offices and hospitals all have computers and those computers are operated by people who like things that are free. Any bored employee who wants to listen to that song he heard on the way to work can simply download Limewire, eDonkey, BearShare, or any other P2P network. Within minutes, that song is on playing on the employee’s iPod, and his employer’s clients’ data is being shared with the world. This type of breech resulted in blueprints for President Obama’s private helicopter being leaked online.

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform has asked the Department of Justice and the FTC to help prevent illegal use of peer to peer networks, and in the same letter, asked what the government is doing to protect its citizens. But ultimately, it’s up to you to protect yourself.

Don’t install P2P software on your computer. If you aren’t sure whether a family member or employee may have installed P2P software, check for new, unfamiliar applications. A look at your “All Programs Menu” will show nearly every program on your computer. If you see one you don’t recognize, do an online search to see what it is you’ve found. You should also set administrative privileges to prevent the installation of new software without your knowledge.

If you must use P2P software, be sure that you don’t share your hard drive’s data. When you install and configure the software, don’t let the P2P program select data for you.

The Smartcard Alliance has released an in-depth report called “Medical Identity Theft in Healthcare.”

Robert Siciliano, personal security adviser to Just Ask Gemalto, discusses Medical Identity Theft on CBS Early Show. (Disclosures)

1.5 Million Americans Have Been Victims of Medical Identity

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Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert

The Smartcard Alliance has released an in-depth report called “Medical Identity Theft in Healthcare.”

While identity theft is a global issue that garners much media attention, most do not realize that medical identity theft is a serious and growing threat. Many authorities consider medical identity theft one of the fastest growing crimes in America. With the digital age of healthcare upon us, the risks are expected to increase as electronic medical records become more prevalent and the exchange of this data over expanding networks becomes more pervasive. Heightened concern over personal data security and privacy highlight the importance of having secure electronic medical identities.

According to a recent Ponemon Institute study, nearly 1.5 million Americans have been victims of medical identity theft with an estimated total cost of $28.6 billion–or approximately $20,000 per victim. [1] Further evidence of the significance of the medical fraud problem is the allocation of $1.7 billion for fraud detection in the 2011 U.S. Health and Human Services Department budget. [2] In 2009, 68 reported healthcare data breaches in the U.S. put over 11.3 million patient records at risk of exposure.

Patients whose medical identities are stolen face serious lingering effects. Fraudulent healthcare events can leave erroneous data in medical records. This erroneous information–like information about tests, diagnoses and procedures–can greatly affect future healthcare and insurance coverage and costs. Patients are often unaware of medical identity theft until a curious bill or a surprising line of questioning by a doctor exposes the issue. Then, the burden of proof is often with the patient and it can be difficult to get the patient’s legitimate medical records cleaned up. The consequences can also be life threatening and can lead to serious medical errors and fatalities.

Identity theft prevention services generally will not protect you from medical identity theft. However, if your information is out there on the Net and being scanned constantly by the identity theft protection service, then your risk is lowered. Furthermore, I’m all about layers of protection. If your identity is protected from new account fraud via credit monitoring or credit freezes then the thief may use another identity that has less restrictions.

1. Get a credit freeze and follow the steps for your particular state. This is an absolutely necessary tool to secure your credit. In most cases, it prevents new accounts from being opened in your name. This makes your Social Security number useless to a potential identity thief.

2. Invest in Intelius identity theft protection and prevention. Not all forms of identity theft can be prevented, but identity theft protection services can dramatically reduce your risk. (Disclosures)

Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Speaker discussing Medical Identity Theft on the CBS Early Show

The Scourge of Medical Identity Theft

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Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert

Medical identity theft can make you sick. As I once eloquently explained on CBS’s Early Show, if medical identity theft happens to you, “you’re screwed.” And it’s true.

Medical identity theft occurs when the perpetrator uses your name and, in some cases, other aspects of your identity, such as insurance information, to obtain medical treatment or medication or to make false claims for treatment or medication. As a result, erroneous or fraudulent entries wind up on your medical records, or sometimes entirely fictional medical records are created in your name. Having somebody else’s ailments noted on your medical records can create a great deal of confusion, potentially even negatively impacting your own health or medical treatment.

As of last week, a new rule requires health care providers, health plans, and other entities covered by the the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) to notify individuals of any breaches of their medical information. A breach, in this case, is defined as, “the acquisition, access, use, or disclosure of protected health information in a manner not permitted [by the HIPAA Privacy Rule] that compromises the security or privacy of the protected health information.”

Most states have required corporations to disclose data breaches for the past few years. Ever since the ChoicePoint breach in 2005, states have been implementing notification laws. At the time, ChoicePoint was only required to notify California residents. Once word spread that residents of other states had also been compromised in the breach, ChoicePoint became the poster child for what not to do in response to a data breach.

Since health care facilities often handle and store some of the same sensitive personal information that corporations do, these facilities are now subject to similar regulations. But protecting yourself from medical identity theft isn’t as easy as protecting yourself from financial identity theft.

  1. Medical ID cards, insurance cards and medical statements that come in the mail can all be used to steal your medical identity. Install a locking mailbox to prevent your mail from being stolen.
  2. Don’t carry cards in your wallet unless absolutely necessary like when you have an actual appointment.
  3. Protect medical information documents. Shred all throw away documentation and lock it up when it’s in your home or office.
  4. Treat your medical identity similarly as you treat your financial identity by getting similar protections. If the thief can’t steal your financial identity then your medical identity may be less attractive. Protecting yourself from new account fraud requires more effort. You can attempt to protect your own identity, by getting yourself a credit freeze, or setting up your own fraud alerts. There are pros and cons to each.

Robert Siciliano identity theft speaker discusses medical identity theft on the CBS Early Show

Will a National ID Card Prevent Identity Theft?

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Identity Theft Expert Robert Siciliano

In a word, no. A national ID card, on its own, will not prevent all forms of identity theft. In order for new account fraud to be entirely avoidable, a number of other factors would have to come into play, effectively establishing accountability through identity proofing. Effective identity proofing is also necessary in order to reliably prevent medical and criminal identity theft.

As you might have guessed, identity proofing simply means proving that individuals are who they say they are. Identity proofing often begins with personal questions, like the name of a first grade teacher or the make and model of a first vehicle, that only the actual person would be able to answer. Of course, this technique is not foolproof, and now that personal information is so readily available over the Internet, knowledge-based authentication is probably on its way to extinction. The next step is documentation, such as a copy of a utility bill or a mortgage statement. These types of identifying documents can be scavenged from the trash, but they are more effective proof when combines with personal questions. Biometric features, such as fingerprints or iris scans, can help further authenticate an individual’s identity.

Identity scoring is another effective identity proofing method. An identity score is a system for tagging and verifying the legitimacy of an individual’s public identity. Identity scores are being used to prevent fraud in business and to verify and correct public records. Identity scores incorporate a broad set of consumer data, including components such as personal identifiers, public and government records, Internet data, corporate data, predicted behavior patterns based on empiric data, self-assessed behavior patterns, and credit records.

USA Today reports that in the four years since Congress enacted the Real ID Act, which was intended to make it more difficult to obtain a fraudulent driver’s license, the act has languished due to opposition from several states. Real ID supporters say it will not only deter terrorism but also reduce identity theft, curb illegal immigration and reduce underage drinking, all by making the nation’s identification-of-choice more secure. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is proposing the repeal of the Real ID Act.

The Real ID Act has many provisions that are forms of identity proofing along with the potential for biometrics across the board. When Indiana checked its six million drivers against a Social Security database, it ended up invalidating 19,000 licenses that didn’t match. When Indiana began using “facial recognition” technology to make its photos secure, the state caught a man who had 149 licenses with the same photo but different names.

Is Napolitano moving backwards or forwards? Do your research and decide for yourself.

Protect yourself from identity theft;

1. Get a credit freeze. Go online now and search “credit freeze” or “security freeze” and go to consumersunion.org and follow the steps for the state you live in. This is an absolutely necessary tool to secure your credit. In most cases it prevents new accounts from being opened in your name.

2. Invest in Intelius Identity Protect. While not all forms of identity theft can be prevented, you can effectively manage your personal identifying information by knowing what’s buzzing out there in regards to YOU.
Includes;

Personal Identity Profile – Find out if you’re at risk for identity theft with a detailed report of your identity information, including a current credit report, address history, aliases, and more.

24/7 Identity Monitoring and Alerts – Prevent identity theft with automatic monitoring that scans billions of public records daily and alerts you to suspicious activity.

Identity Recovery Assistance – Let professionals help you recover your identity if you ever become a victim of identity theft.

Identity Theft Speaker Robert Siciliano discussing identity theft on Fox News

Social Media Identity Theft Hits MLB Coach On Twitter

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Identity Theft Expert Robert Siciliano

The scourge of identity theft knows no boundaries. It can happen to anyone: rich, poor, good credit, bad credit. Victims include children, the elderly, celebrities and politicians, even the dead. Identity theft may include new account fraud, account takeover, criminal identity theft, business identity theft and medical identity theft. Most of these result in financial loss.

One form of identity theft that is particularly damaging to the victim’s reputation is social media identity theft. Social media identity thieves have various motivations. The most damaging type of social media identity theft occurs when someone poses as you in order to disrupt your life. This disruption can take on many forms. They may harass and stalk you or your contacts, or they may steal your online identity for financial gain.

In the case of St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa, someone created a Twitter account in his name. La Russa is suing Twitter, claiming the impostor Twitter page damaged his reputation and caused emotional distress. The lawsuit includes a screen shot of three tweets. One, posted on April 19, read, “Lost 2 out of 3, but we made it out of Chicago without one drunk driving incident or dead pitcher.” Apparently, La Russa has had a drunk driving arrest and two Cardinals pitchers have died since 2002. One pitcher died of a heart attack, the other in a drunk driving accident.

There is no limit to the damage someone can do by using your name and picture in order to impersonate you online. In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, an 18 year old student was accused of posing as a girl on Facebook, tricking at least 31 male classmates into sending him naked photos of themselves, and then blackmailing some of these young men for sex acts.

Social media websites were created with the intention of bringing people together in a positive way, but we are beginning to see these sites being used in very sinister ways. The root of the problem is the fact that social media sites are all based on the honor system, with the assumption that people are honestly setting up accounts in their own names. There are few checks and balances in the world of social media, which means that you need to adopt a strategy from yet another form of predator to protect yourself.

There are hundreds or even thousands of social media sites, including Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and YouTube. Even your local newspaper’s website has a place for user comments, and most people would prefer to register their own names before someone else has done so on their behalf.

I have obtained over 200 user names pertaining to my given name in order to mitigate social media identity theft. This may sound obsessive, but the two examples given above are all the proof anyone needs to clamp down on social media. I’m on everything from Affluence.org to Zooomr.com. Some I use, others just have my profile and a link back to my website. I should also mention that there are some hazards involved in such a mission. You may experience a spike in spam, as I did, so I suggest creating an alternate email address. Furthermore, some websites make you join various groups that you don’t have much control over. I’m now a member of some masochistic fetish group of the opposite sex. Not exactly what I signed up for. So be careful.

The goal is to obtain your real first and last name without periods, underscores, hyphens, abbreviations or extra numbers or letters.

These tips bear repeating:

  1. Register your full name and those of your spouse and kids on the most trafficked social media sites, blogs, domains or web based email accounts. If your name is already gone, include your middle initial, a period or a hyphen. It’s up to you to decide whether or not to plug in your picture and basic bio, but consider leaving out your age or birthday.
  2. Set up a free Google Alerts for your name and get an email every time your name pops up online.
  3. Set up a free StepRep account for your name. StepRep is an online reputation manager that does a better job than Google Alerts does of fetching your name on the web.
  4. Consider dropping $65 on Knowem.com. This is an online portal that goes out and registers your name at what they consider the top 120 social media sites. Their top 120 is debatable, but a great start. The user experience with Knowem is relatively painless. There is still labor involved in setting things up and with some of the 120. And no matter what you do, you will still find it difficult to complete the registration with all 120 sites. Some of the social media sites just aren’t agreeable. This can save you lots of time, but is only one part of solving the social media identity theft problem.
  5. Start doing things online to boost your online reputation. Blogging is best. You want Google to bring your given name to the top of search in its best light, so when anyone is searching for you they see good things. This is a combination of online reputation management and search engine optimization for your brand: YOU.
  6. If you ever stumble upon someone using your likeness in the social media, be very persistent in contacting the site’s administrators. They too have reputations to manage and if they see someone using your photo or likeness they would be smart to delete the stolen profile.
  7. Or do nothing and don’t worry about it. But when some other John Doe does something stupid or uses your name in a disparaging way or for identity theft, and people assume that it’s you, remember that I told you so.
  8. Despite all the work you may do to protect yourself, you still need identity theft protection and Internet security software.

Robert Siciliano, identity theft speaker, discusses social media privacy.