These days, most people know the drill for dealing with a stolen credit card number ”” call the card company and have the account canceled.
But experts say a different type of identity theft is on the rise ”” one that could compromise both the victim’s credit and physical safety. Patients using someone else’s name, Social Security number or insurance card to get health care could risk their victim’s health if inaccurate information, such as blood type and medications, is recorded on the victim’s chart.
I predict that the response to this issue will be for health insurance companies to offer health identity protection for $10 per month to their subscribers. It gives new meaning to the commercial company name LifeLock.
My family doctor is now requiring that we show our photo ids and our insurance cards every time we check in. They dutifully make a copy of the photo id and the insurance card and add even more paper to the ever thickening file. Given that my insurance company has raised my Medicare D 40% in seven months, I suspect that LifeLock protection will cost significantly more than $10.