Stealing Your Health: Medical ID Theft

May 3, 2006 — -- There's a new kind of identity theft going around that can leave you bankrupt and be hazardous to your health.

A report released today by the World Privacy Forum, a non-profit research group, describes the threat as medical identity theft. It happens when someone uses your social security number to obtain medical care -- even surgery -- while pretending to be you. According to the report, there have been 19,428 complaints about medical identity theft to the Federal Trade Commission since that agency started recording such complaints in 1992.

However, the report also notes that medical identity theft is underreported and may be more common that law enforcement officials believe.

"This crime is under-researched and under-documented," the report says. "It is highly probable that…more cases exist."

A Joke That Wasn't Funny

For Joe Ryan of Vail, Colo., medical identity theft has meant financial ruin for him. He got a $40,000 bill for a surgery he never had.

"This must be a joke," Ryan said when he received the bill.

According to Ryan, the bill collectors told him, "You're Joe Ryan aren't you? And your social security number is? ... And your date of birth?"

Unfortunately for Ryan, it wasn't a joke. Surgery was performed but on the wrong person.

Police believe the imposter was a man named Joe Henslik, a career criminal who stole Ryan's identity. Henslik later died, but police believe he first confessed to his alleged crime in a voicemail message, saying "I had to get in the hospital. ... But I had no insurance."

In Ryan's case, the alleged medical identity thief was already a criminal and had no relationship with his victim. In other cases discovered by ABC News, imposters have received medical care by posing as their friends, family members, and co-workers.

Using your social security number, date of birth, or insurance information, medical identity thieves can taint your record with doctor's appointments you've never made and medical treatments you've never received. Pam Dixon, executive director of the World Privacy Forum, believes imposters might even use the tactic to "scrub" their own medical histories, purposely leaving a trail of treatments for chronic or stigmatizing illness on your records instead of theirs.

"If someone steals your identity and goes into the hospital and has medical treatment, you will have a medical record in your name that doesn't match your body," Dixon said.

How to Protect Yourself

The danger to the theft victim is that going in for emergency treatment -- particularly if the victim is unconscious or otherwise unable to communicate -- doctors might provide medical care tailored to the identity thief's medical history. Those errors could have serious health consequences.

There are also steps hospitals and healthcare providers can take to combat the problem. At the University of Connecticut Health Center, they have started asking for photo identification before treating patients. When they ask, some people just run away.

"It's amazing how many times people would say I left my ID in the car," said Marie Whalen, a vice president at the University of Connecticut Health Center. "They'd go out to get it and then all of a sudden they never returned."

Dixon, the author of the World Privacy Forum report, thinks there's more that hospitals, insurance companies, and government agencies can do to stop the problem and help its victims. Her recommendations include a review of policy with an eye for making it easier to obtain and correct one's own health information.

"Under the law, health care provides aren't required to entirely delete false records." Dixon said. "Helping people correct their files is one of the more important rights that can be expanded. It can really help save lives in the long run."

The best way to protect against medical identity theft, Dixon said, is to check your medical file to make sure it's accurate and to keep a close eye on your insurance statements.

Meanwhile, Joe Ryan is still fighting to get back what he lost from being a Medical Identity Theft victim. His business, Rocky Mountain Biplane, is on the verge of bankruptcy.

"The bottom line is the whole thing has just been absolutely devastating to me," he said. "It's very frustrating to say the least."