Only one more week until the Federal Trade Commission begins enforcing Red Flag Rules that require creditors—including doctors, hospitals –take steps to minimize their patients’ identity theft risks.
The FTC developed the Red Flag Rules in response to increasing medical ID theft complaints from consumers and insurance companies. Though there are no exact statistics on annual occurrence, the FTC estimates about 250,000 cases every year. The World Privacy Forum estimates 500,000 victims in America.
Medical identity theft encompasses financial identity theft, insurance fraud, benefits fraud and can result in mixed medical records, according to Linda Foley, co-founder of the Identity Theft Resource Center.
As well, medical ID theft causes millions of dollars in losses to health insurance providers, including federal programs Medicaid and Medicare.
In order to meet Red Flag Rule standards, creditors must:
1. Know the warning signs of medical identity theft
2. Have a response plan if they identify a possible red flag
3. Designate a go-to person to enact the response plan
4. Train employees on your plan
5. Document all of the above
