Medical identity theft sees sharp uptick

The number of patients affected by medical identity theft has increased by nearly 22% over the past year, which is up by nearly half a million victims since 2013. The number of incidents of medical identity theft has nearly doubled in 5 years, with over 2 million victims in 2014. This has resulted in more than half of victims paying over $13,000 to resolve the crime, costing consumers more than $20 billion in out-of-pocket costs in 2014. The majority of victims are not informed by their healthcare provider or insurer about the theft of their credentials, and many struggle to reach resolution following the incident. Victims also say that medical identity theft has affected their reputation and employment.