Everybody is aware of the growing tide of identity theft.
But this is surprising to many: professional identity theft is running rampant in the healthcare industry. One insider called it “the cancer that we’re fighting every day”.
Here’s how it works: a fraudster uses the name and professional registration number of a physician, chiropractor or physiotherapist and “manufactures” official–looking invoices with this unlawful identity.
The National Post reports these parties are “filing bogus claims, often in cahoots with the named patients. They can make tens of thousands of dollars using one stolen identity with relatively little chance of being caught and almost none of facing criminal prosecution”.
Last week in the U.S., 73 members of an Armenian-led gang were arrested in a scheme involving non-existent clinics and stolen identity of healthcare practitioners used to file fraudulent claims. Medicare officials confirmed it was the largest fraud ever linked to the government-run medical insurer.
Closer to home, Ontario’s public health insurer is facing too many stories like this one: a woman produced her OHIP card at Toronto-area hospital where she underwent a hysterectomy. A short time later, the same card was presented after a woman gave birth in another GTA hospital. While this incident is relatively minor, it highlights a serious political problem: the government’s inability to better police the system is adding millions of dollars of cost to a system that desperately needs to achieve cost control.
This problem confirms a common understanding: fraud is always in close proximity to where the money is.
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pl
October 25, 2010 at 11:15 am
People who take advantage and fraud the medical system,may
one day need medical help themselves – and it just won’t be there
SD
October 25, 2010 at 11:26 am
Just another example of how fraud and identity theft is prevalent in our continually changing world.
HC
October 25, 2010 at 11:27 am
This is really sad and unfortunate. It would be nice if the government could get this under control.
M.R.
October 25, 2010 at 11:33 am
It people like the women in Toronto that are going to cause us Canadian’s to lose are medical all together!
MB
October 25, 2010 at 11:49 am
I can’t decide which is worse; mandatory universal healthcare which we pay for with our tax dollars or higher tax’s for said healthcare because we can’t police the healthcare system.
LR
October 25, 2010 at 12:44 pm
This is really sad. I guess when it comes to fraud and making money, anybody will find a way to do it.
se
October 25, 2010 at 1:54 pm
This is just disgusting….hopefully the government can come up with something to shut fraudulent acts like this down.
jp
October 26, 2010 at 1:38 pm
it is amazing how much fraud is out there. unless you have been a victim of fraud, we tend to think “it won’t happen to me”….
HG
October 26, 2010 at 2:06 pm
Photo health card was suppose to help stop the fraudulent health claims but it looks like it will not happen. It just shows how easy the system can be abused.
SL
October 27, 2010 at 9:06 pm
We really need to protect our medical card as if it were a credit card with an endless limit. Reasons for this rise in Medical theft and fraud could be from increased health costs or uninsured public…this is so wrong and costly for all of us …but,people get desparate.
cd
October 28, 2010 at 8:56 am
With the concerning issue of our aging population, our Province’s health care system cannot afford to be burdened with additional expenses for fraudulent claims.