Medical identity theft is a growing problem in the United States. The last time federal data on the crime was collected for a 2007 report, more than 250,000 Americans a year were victims.
Pam Dixon, executive director of the nonprofit World Privacy Forum and author of a report on medical identity theft says that number has increased since then because of the increased use of electronic medical records systems built without extensive safeguards.
Medical identity theft takes many guises, including theft of Social Security numbers to obtain emergency medical services, where many hospitals are obliged to provide care regardless of whether the patient has health insurance. In other cases, thieves use stolen insurance information to impersonate you. Even more common are cases where medical information is stolen by insiders at medical offices.
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