Survey: Public indifferent to medical ID theft
While consumers grasp the importance of protecting their medical and personal information, few individuals take the necessary precautions to avoid medical identity theft, according to a study from the Ponemon Institute.
It is estimated that nearly 1.5 million Americans are victims of medical identity theft, up slightly from last year, according to the study. “Alarmingly, the average cost to resolve a case of medical identity theft stands at $20,663, up from $20,160 in 2010,” according to the Traverse City, Mich.-based research organization.
More than 1,672 U.S. consumers completed a web-based survey, which was conducted in January. Of these participants, 718 reported they had been victims of identity theft. Fifty-one percent of respondents have private insurance, and 21 percent have Medicare or Medicaid. Fifty percent have a college or advanced educational degree.
“Recognizing the importance of privacy does not equate to action,” the study found. Nearly 70 percent of study respondents felt it was important to have personal control over their medical records, and 80 percent felt that healthcare organizations should ensure the privacy of these records. “However, these beliefs do not translate to action, as 49 percent of victims took no new steps to protect themselves after a crime,” the study stated.
Fifty percent of former victims chose not to report the incident to law enforcement at all, up from 46 percent in the 2010 study. The top reason for failure to report was the lack of resulting harm and the desire to not make it a big deal (43 percent). “More victims fear embarrassment (37 percent) than the loss of medical coverage (21 percent) or a diminished credit score (18 percent) as a potential result of medical identity theft,” the authors noted.
The risk of medical identity theft lies beyond consumer control and healthcare organization data breaches account for a significant portion of all reported identity theft incidents. When a breach occurs, the organization normally is required to inform affected people, depending on state law notification requirements. However, only 5 percent of victims learned of their theft from a data breach notification, while such breaches accounted for 14 percent of all theft instances, the report found.
"Medical identitiy theft is a family affair," Poneman stated. "Theft between family members accounted for 36 percent of all victim responses, making it the most common type of theft." The frequency of family-related medical identity theft contributed to the most commonly stated reason (51 percent) why victims elected not to report a given incident: the victim discovered that he or she knew the thief and did not want to report him or her.
The study was sponsored by Experian.
It is estimated that nearly 1.5 million Americans are victims of medical identity theft, up slightly from last year, according to the study. “Alarmingly, the average cost to resolve a case of medical identity theft stands at $20,663, up from $20,160 in 2010,” according to the Traverse City, Mich.-based research organization.
More than 1,672 U.S. consumers completed a web-based survey, which was conducted in January. Of these participants, 718 reported they had been victims of identity theft. Fifty-one percent of respondents have private insurance, and 21 percent have Medicare or Medicaid. Fifty percent have a college or advanced educational degree.
“Recognizing the importance of privacy does not equate to action,” the study found. Nearly 70 percent of study respondents felt it was important to have personal control over their medical records, and 80 percent felt that healthcare organizations should ensure the privacy of these records. “However, these beliefs do not translate to action, as 49 percent of victims took no new steps to protect themselves after a crime,” the study stated.
Fifty percent of former victims chose not to report the incident to law enforcement at all, up from 46 percent in the 2010 study. The top reason for failure to report was the lack of resulting harm and the desire to not make it a big deal (43 percent). “More victims fear embarrassment (37 percent) than the loss of medical coverage (21 percent) or a diminished credit score (18 percent) as a potential result of medical identity theft,” the authors noted.
The risk of medical identity theft lies beyond consumer control and healthcare organization data breaches account for a significant portion of all reported identity theft incidents. When a breach occurs, the organization normally is required to inform affected people, depending on state law notification requirements. However, only 5 percent of victims learned of their theft from a data breach notification, while such breaches accounted for 14 percent of all theft instances, the report found.
"Medical identitiy theft is a family affair," Poneman stated. "Theft between family members accounted for 36 percent of all victim responses, making it the most common type of theft." The frequency of family-related medical identity theft contributed to the most commonly stated reason (51 percent) why victims elected not to report a given incident: the victim discovered that he or she knew the thief and did not want to report him or her.
The study was sponsored by Experian.