Adds medical and health insurance information within the definitions of identity theft

BILL NUMBER:S4043

Title of bill

An act to amend the penal law, the general business law and the state technology law, in relation to adding medical and health insurance information within the definitions of identity theft

Purpose

This bill intends to protect individuals from medical identity theft by including medical and health insurance information within the definition of identity theft.

Summary of provisions

Adds medical information and health information to the definition of identity theft in Section 190.78-79 of the penal law, Section 899-aa of the general business law, and section 208 of the state technology law.

Defines medical information to mean "any information regarding an indi- vidual medical history, mental or physical condition, or medical treat- ment of diagnosis by a health care professional."

Defines health insurance information to mean "an individual's health insurance policy number or subscriber identification number, any unique identifier used by a health insurer to identify the individual or any information in an individual's application and claims history, includ- ing, but not limited to, appeals history.

Justification

According to the World Privacy Forum (WPF) in 2006, medical identity theft accounts for approximately 3 percent of total ID theft, which is reported to be the fastest-growing crime over the last seven years. Criminals now pay upwards to $50 for a stolen medical ID, in comparison to $1 for a social security number. Victims of medical identity are left, with few avenues for assistance as compared to regu- lar ID theft, partially due to the lack of knowledge regarding this crime.

Stolen items typically include patient records, documents on insurance benefits, and passwords to medical servers. Whether it is a physician identification number or patient identification information that is stolen, medical identity theft is a serious problem, estimated to effect 250,000-500,000 individuals per year.

Little assistance is provided for victims under the Health Insurance portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Rather, the rigid.ness of HIPPAA can create difficulties for victims trying to fix files that have been altered by, identity thieves. For example, medications, allergies and surgeries fraudulently billed in the name of the victim become permanent records that are hard to correct.In addition to the hardship on patients, medical identify theft is a costly burden on the healthcare system. According to the National Health Care Anti-Fraud Association, of the $60 billion dollars in health care fraud each year, 1 percent, or $6 billion per year is attributed to medical identity.

Legislative history

S.7253 of 2008 03/24/08 Referred to Codes S.648 of 2011 01/05/11 REFERRED TO CODES 01/04/12 REFERRED TO CODES 06/13/12 COMMITTEE DISCHARGED AND COMMITTED TO RULES 06/13/12 ORDERED TO THIRD READING CAL. 1201 06/13/12 PASSED SENATE 06/13/12 DELIVERED TO ASSEMBLY 06/13/12 REFERRED TO CODES 01/09/13REFERRED TO CODES 01/08/14REFERRED TO CODES

Fiscal implications

Unknown.

Effective date

This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall have become a law; provided, however, that effective immediate- ly, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of this act on its effective date are authorized and directed to be made and completed on or before such effective date.