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Indiana Doctors' Rash Of Identity Theft Gets Congressional Notice

David DeHoey
/
Flickr (https://www.flickr.com/photos/daviddehoey/4258047257)

Indiana officials are investigating dozens of cases of identity theft and tax fraud perpetrated against doctors in the state. Since March, the Indiana State Medical Association has warned doctors their identities may have been compromised – prompting a flood of calls from physicians.

Spokeswoman Adele Lash says it’s unclear how the fraud may have started, but says billing statements are not necessarily the problem because they don’t contain information that’s sensitive enough.

On Friday, all 11 members of Indiana’s congressional delegation joined in a letter to IRS Commissioner John Koskinen asking his agency to pay specific attention to the Indiana cases, which are similar to a rash of identity thefts seen in other states.

The Indiana Attorney General’s Office is also conducting its own investigation. In an e-mail, spokeswoman Erin Reece says her office has received 84 tax-related identity theft complaints from doctors this year out of more than 200 total.  The total represents almost a four-fold increase over similar complaints in all of 2013.

Lash says she’s not aware of any doctors changing their billing practices in an effort to ward off future problems.