Stopping Damage Done From Medical Identity Theft

Earlier I covered what medical identity theft itself is, but how do you overcome and erase the damage done once you find yourself a victim of medical identity theft?  Well first off you should start by closely monitoring your credit, something that everyone should do anyway, and making special note of anything involving medical bills that you suspect may be incorrect.  Although most of the time this will not be sufficient to protect yourself, and you may find yourself one day contacted by a debt collection agency, or even your insurance provider to investigate a debt that hasn’t been paid.  Oftentimes that’s the first indication that anything like medical identity theft has taken place.

The first step to take once you have found out that you may be a victim of medical identity theft is to file a police report.  This is your first piece of evidence to notify any inquiring debt collection agencies or insurance companies that something isn’t right.  The police report is also useful in the attempts to catch whomever is impersonating you using your medical information.  Once the police report is on file if the thief attempts to fill a prescription or anything of that sort, the account will be flagged.  Also guiding police in the direction of the thief, and also stopping any more fraudulent medical bills from building up against you.

What you’ll want to do next is have anything related to the identity thief expunged from your medical records.  Federal health guidelines provide the right for you to request a change to a portion of your medical history, and having filed the police report will show that you have been a victim of medical identity theft.  That way you can protect yourself from any incorrect diagnosis that could occur in the future derived from medical information that wasn’t taken from you.

Following those guidelines should help you reclaim your medical identity, and also protect you from medical identity thieves in the future.