One area of identity theft that most of us don't hear about is medical identity theft. However it is one aspect of it that is continually on the rise due to the sheer number of people who don't have proper health insurance coverage. Medical identity theft involves someone else getting medical care with your personal information. They use your name, date of birth, and create a new medical history for themselves. Your medical insurance is billed for the services provided to them.

Some people think medical identity theft isn't as severe as financial identity theft because there isn't a cost to the person only the insurance company. This isn't always the case though. For example the insurance company may bill the real owner of the identity for deductibles, co-pays, and costs that exceed the set limit of the policy.

In addition a person's own medical needs can be compromised when they are a victim of medical identity theft. Let's say you are involved in a vehicle accident and rushed to the nearest hospital. Taking the information in your wallet they pull up your medical history and administer medication. However since the information in their records is actually belonging to someone else they don't discover you are allergic to the medication they are giving you.

It is a good idea to ask to review your medical records on a regular basis. This way you can point out any errors that should be corrected. If you get bills or statements from your medical insurance company that don't make sense to you call and ask for more information. Get the dates of service as well as the facility where they took place.

The laws aren't very strict in the area of medical identity theft because it is just now starting to be recognized as a serious issue by government officials and the medical profession. There are several organizations working with the general public, the medical community, and the lawmakers to enforce severe penalties for those involved in medical identity theft.