 TITLE: How to Prevent Medical Identity Theft CONTENT: Medical identity theft refers to a form of identity theft that occurs when someone uses your name, Social Security number, health insurance number and other personally identifiable information (PII) to receive medical services or purchase medical products. Medical identity theft can look like:\n*   Someone using your PII to get medical procedures, such as surgeries or tests, and having the bill sent to you or your insurance provider.\n*   Someone using your PII to purchase prescriptions or medical equipment.\n*   A health care provider using consumers' PII to file fraudulent insurance claims.\nAs with non-medical identity theft, dealing with the repercussions can be a confusing, time-consuming and costly process. But medical identity theft can also be more dangerous than other forms of identity fraud because it can lead to errors in your medical records.\nIt's not hard to imagine the mistakes that can happen when someone is rushed to the emergency room and their medical record has an incorrect blood type listed or doesn't show the correct allergies. Victims may also find they're denied coverage or treatments due to the fraud. In some cases, police have even issued arrest warrants for the victims because the identity thief used their information to purchase large quantities of prescription medications. END