Reply to post: Missing the big picture

Anthem, America's second biggest health insurer, HACKED: Millions hit by breach

Hmmmmm....

Missing the big picture

After you read the article you might wonder why this matters. I’m actually disappointed that the writer didn’t spell it out. If your CC is stolen you get a bill with unauthorized charges and you call the CC company and the card is deactivated (refunds and whatever don’t matter for this discussion). If you medical insurance information is stolen two things can occur. First someone could pose as you for procedures. That in itself isn’t any worse than your CC being stolen. You will receive a bill and call about it. Odds are you will get new account numbers and they will stop the bleeding. But if the bad guys setup fake practices and start billing for services never rendered. They collect from the insurance companies and never bill the individual. Most people don’t follow up on their medical claims unless they get a bill. They could milk the system for years. I’ve told this to others before and most people don’t like their insurance companies so they really don’t see this as bad. I guess they may later when they see how their rates went up to offset the rise in claims.

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