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Randall Jeppesen reportingOfficials are still working out the details in the case where a woman gave birth to a baby using someone else's I-D here in Utah. But just how big is the problem of medical identity theft?
Stealing your identity to get medical treatments is a fairly new type of crime. I-D Theft Attorney Richard Hamp with the Utah Attorney General's Office says he knows of only a few cases in Utah but he says we still need to change the way we give out information to make sure it doesn't happen more.
Richard Hamp: "Everybody and their dog has asked you for years for your Social Security number and you automatically just give it out. People need to quit doing that."
Nationally, over nineteen thousand cases of medical I-D theft have been reported. Some hospitals in other states are starting to require photo I-D. Hamp says that's one option Utah hospitals might want to consider.
