Watch your medical insurance info closely.

[napi21]

Just heard on Norm Goldman's show 2/12/2015 ion the 3rd hour, an interview with a rep from Consumer Watchdog about people stealing your medical information, then going to the hospital to get tests, treatments, surgeries, etc. pretending to be YOU, and YOU GET THE BILL! Insurance companies always send you information when they pay a bill for you. Even if you usually discard this as junk mail, DON'T! The topic cam up because of the stealing of data from Anthem Blue Cross. Seems this is a much more profitable crime than wiping out bank accounts or maxing out your credit cards, AND your bank account is covered by the fdic and if you can prove the charges are not yours or YOU never applied for the card, the CC co. will eat the losses. It's much more difficult to fight medical insurance fraud.

Scary thought! I never thought of this kind of thing, and guessed most of you never did either. WOW!

[pugetres]

1. I have to present photo ID

every time I present for any service within the medical system that I selected. Seems like the hospitals need to tighten up their patient intake departments.

[Holly_Hobby]

8. No matter where, I'm also asked for a photo ID. nt

[Glassunion]

2. Anywhere and everywhere the money changes hands, there are criminals exploiting it.

I can think of no industry or market that is free from this.

[BrotherIvan]

3. Maybe they can pay my deductible

[freshwest]

4. Actually, this has been going on for many, many years. It's just easier now.

[DesertDiamond]

5. Wow! My purse was stolen last month with both my HealthNet and my new Medi-Cal cards in it....

I was thinking that I was so protected because since I had no income at the time there was no money in any of my bank accounts, and if they try to open a credit account in my name they'll be turned down because my credit rating is too low. Now I realize it's also a protection that both my HealthNet and my Medi-Cal have been canceled as of a few days ago. Now I know to get a new account number for whichever health insurance I end up with.

[napi21]

6. Yes, get new numbers & notify the co. of the theft so there's

never a question if someone tries to use your old info.

I saw the post where someone said this has been going on for a long time, but I never heard of it, and I'm sure I'm not the only one!

[Lars39]

7. I've started keeping a list of all my appointments.

Keeping an EOB spreadsheet tied to the appointment list, with categories of charges, payments, service providers, etc may seem like overkill unless you have to prove you paid the debt. We also use Quicken, with lots of detail and archive it by year. Also keep check images.
My eye opener was someone trying to scam us on a medical debt this past summer and realizing our records were shaky.