Your Doctor Might Ask For Id

As a way to fight the crime of medical identity theft, some doctors and hospitals are starting to ask for ID when patients check in to receive medical care. This is a protection for patients. Because the Federal Trade Commission has recently released what are called “Red Flags” rules to combat identity theft, some changes are being made by, not only the medical field, but banks and other institutions as well. These changes are required to be put in place by November 1, 2009 by the FTC, so the next time you go to the doctor or the hospital, you might be required to provide your ID at check in. Patients should not consider this an aggravation, but rather a protection of their medical file and their credit.

Many individuals in need of medical care, have received it at the expense of someone else by providing a false identity. This results in high medical bills being created and ultimately the responsibility of the victim. Medical files have been changed to reflect the medical conditions of the identity thief rather than the real person, which is very dangerous when it comes to treating serious illnesses or diseases. It doesn’t hurt to carry with you some sort of medical card to alert medical personnel of your medical history in the case of an emergency. Keep photo id with you as well and be sure that your doctor gets to know who you are are keeps your medical file up to date.

Being proactive in preventing identity theft is important.

By: Michele Parker

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Researcher and writer for LifeLock partner website. View more about data breaches and identity theft prevention tips on our LifeLock Reviews blog.