What is medical identity theft?

Medical identity theft is when someone uses your personal information, like your:

• Medicare number
• Social Security number
• Driver’s license number
• Address

They then use this information to:

• Get medical treatment
• Buy medical equipment
• Get prescriptions
• Submit claims to your health insurance

 

How to protect yourself from medical identity theft

• Be careful about who you give your personal information to.
• Beware of unexpected texts, calls, or emails. A scammer may try to get you to click on a link or respond with your personal information.
• Remember that Medicare and Social Security will never reach out to you to ask for your personal information.
• Keep documents that contain your medical information somewhere safe.
• When getting rid of these documents, use a shredder or wait for a local shred day.
• Look out for common fraud schemes used to steal personal information.
  • This includes scams around free COVID-19 tests, medical equipment you didn’t ask for, genetic testing, cancer screening kits, “new” Medicare cards, and telehealth.

 

Identify the signs that you are experiencing medical identity theft

If someone does manage to steal and use your medical information, there will likely be signs:

• You may see charges on your Medicare statements that you don’t recognize.
• You might get a shipment of back or knee braces, testing kits, or other medical supplies in the mail that you didn’t ask for.
• You could be contacted by a debt collection company for a provider bill that you don’t owe.
• You may review your credit report and see a note of medical debt collection that you don’t recognize.

 

Respond to and report medical identity theft

If you believe someone has stolen your medical contact information, contact your Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP). Along with reporting any incidents to the authorities, an SMP may encourage you to:

• Review your Medicare statements for any errors.
• Get copies of your medical records from providers the thief may have used.
• Report any errors on medical records or statements to your providers.
• Review your credit reports.
• Make an identity recovery plan using the Federal Trade Commission’s IdentityTheft.org.
• Contact your Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP) to report medical identity theft! Visit www.smpresource.org or call 877-808-2468.

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FOR OTHER QUESTIONS, CONTACT AMERICAN SENIOR RESOURCES at 1-866-448-0160 TTY 711 M-F or SCHEDULE AN CONSULTATION ONLINE WITH AN ASR LICENSED AGENT.