Sidebar: Medical ID Theft by the Numbers

Somewhere between 250,000 and 500,000 people are victims of medical identity theft annually.

• At least 3 percent of overall health-care costs are due to fraud. That's $60 billion each year.
  
• At least 1 percent of fraud is estimated to be medical identity theft: $6 billion per year.
  
• Average payout for regular ID theft: $2,000.
  
• Average payout for medical identity theft: $20,000.
  
• Cost, on the street, for a stolen Social Security number: $1
  
• Cost, on the street, for stolen medical ID information: $50
  
• Cost of medical identity theft, per family of four, per year: $80
  

Sources: The World Privacy Forum and Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.