Imagine that you are planning the purchase of your first home. Like many first-time home owners, you apply for a loan from the bank. Your excitement flourishes when the bank calls you because you believe that the bank has approved your loan and that you are one step closer to owning your own home. However, the news you receive is not so exciting. The bank tells you that your loan was denied because of an outstanding medical bill on your record. You become confused and shocked because you have not received any medical treatment and are not aware of any outstanding bills.
Craig Murdock and his wife found themselves in this exact situation in 2015. While trying to secure a loan for the Murdocks’ first home, Craig discovered a medical bill for a heart procedure that he never underwent. Craig spent months trying to convince the hospital that he was a victim of identity theft before Craig eventually settled and paid the bill. Unfortunately, medical identity theft is becoming increasingly common.
The process of resolving medical identity theft places an extreme burden on victims to prove that they are not the individual who received treatment under their name. However, meeting this burden can be impossible in some cases, causing the victims to bear the financial loss of paying for hospital services that they never received. This article examines potential methods to revamp the current system and shift the burden of researching and resolving cases of medical identity theft to healthcare providers.
This article begins with a general overview of the history of identity theft in general and then specifically discusses the current state of medical identity theft. This article further examines how and why medical identity theft occurs. Next, it discusses the personal impact that medical identity theft has on victims and how victims can respond to medical identity theft and altered medical records. Next, the article covers the current laws and regulations governing medical identity theft and the evolution of these laws and regulations over time. The article then turns to available legal remedies and the harm that medical identity theft victims suffer. It then analyzes several recommendations regarding how to respond and improve the ease with which victims can resolve claims. Finally, this article recommends that healthcare providers should bear the responsibility for researching cases of medical identity theft that have occurred within their institutions.