VS Victor Sterling, MS, CHDA Patient Rights Advocate & Medicare Fraud Prevention Specialist The phone rings on a quiet afternoon. A friendly, authoritative voice on the other end says, “Hello, this is the Medicare Support Network. According to your file, you suffer from chronic back and joint pain. You qualify for a brand-new, premium orthopedic … Read more
When news breaks of a corporate data breach, public attention almost always zeroes in on stolen credit card numbers and leaked account passwords. Financial institutions cancel compromised cards in minutes, issuing new plastic before fraud occurs. But when a health system, hospital network, or medical billing vendor suffers a cyberattack, the stolen asset is infinitely … Read more
VS Victor Sterling, MS, CHDA Patient Privacy Advocate & Health Data Security Expert When you walk into a doctor’s office, you hand over a clipboard containing your most intimate secrets: your Social Security number, your complete medical history, and your deepest anxieties. We do this without hesitation because of a silent, invisible shield we trust … Read more
Every autumn, millions of Americans head online during Open Enrollment to secure health insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Navigating health plans, tax subsidies, and deductibles can be overwhelming—and cybercriminals know it. Capitalizing on this confusion, scammers construct sophisticated look-alike websites designed to mimic official health exchanges like Healthcare.gov. These imposter portals look … Read more
VS Victor Sterling, MS, CHDA Patient Rights Advocate & Medicare Fraud Prevention Specialist You open your mailbox on a Tuesday afternoon and find a small, padded envelope you didn’t order. Inside is a plastic tube, a cotton swab, and a glossy, professional-looking brochure. The headline reads: “Free Cancer Screening: Find Out if You Are Genetically … Read more
VS Victor Sterling, MS, CHDA Patient Rights Advocate & Medical Fraud Prevention Specialist You are sitting at the kitchen table when your smartphone buzzes. You glance down and see a text message: “CVS Notice: Your prescription order #8849 is on hold due to a billing error. Please update your payment method immediately to avoid cancellation: … Read more
VS Victor Sterling, MS, CHDA Patient Rights Advocate & Medicare Fraud Prevention Specialist It’s a Tuesday morning in late October. The Medicare Annual Election Period has just begun. Your phone rings, and the screen flashes “Spam Likely” or perhaps a local area code you don’t recognize. You answer it out of curiosity. A polite, highly … Read more
When most people think of identity theft, they picture a thief opening fraudulent credit cards in their name or draining a bank account. But there is another, far more insidious form of crime that receives much less attention: medical identity theft. It happens when someone steals your health insurance card, Member ID, or Social Security … Read more