Ashley Milne-Tyte

Medical identity theft

August 5, 2011

Listen here. Aired on The Health Show.

This is a relatively unknown crime but it's growing fast. It happens when someone posing as you gets medical treatment under your name. The aftermath is messy. It's also hard to clear up thanks to the byzantine healthcare system and privacy laws that can make it tough for the victim to view their own medical records. Pam Dixon of The World Privacy Forum says the majority of medical identity theft takes place behind computer screens at hospitals, clinics and their subcontractors, so there's very little the humble patient can do about it. She and her colleagues are coming out with a new report on medical identity theft in September. In the meantime, if your wallet is stolen, tell your insurance company as well as your credit card company. That insurance card could be a gold mine for someone.

Check out this map of where medical identity theft cases are cropping up across the US.

Family caregiving - losing our moral bearings?

July 18th, 2011

Having reported on caregiving earlier this year, I was interested to hear this NPR piece on family caregiving this morning. It looks at the issue of caring for a family member in light of AARP's new report on the monetary value of family caregiving. Many of us haven't had to think about this yet, but increasingly the Baby Boom generation is thinking about it, and in many cases already caring for ill or elderly parents. I thought the piece ended with an excellent idea - check it out to see what I mean. The main thing that struck me about this story, though, was the comments. Clearly this is a topic people feel strongly about. Some commenters seem to think society has lost its moral bearings, that voicing even one doubt or grumble about the caregiving routine shows how selfish people have become. But caregiving IS a grind for many. Caregivers are entitled to feel exhausted, depressed and angry at times. An (apparently) totally selfless attitude may have been the norm decades ago, when women, and it is largely women who do this, didn't work outside the home and were expected to perform the role of carer/nurse simply because of their sex. But for many in the 21st century life is a lot more complicated as work, family commitments and long-distance travel are thrown into the caregiving mix. I'm sure some of these commenters would have been horrified by my piece on paid family caregivers. I'm glad to have reported on such an emotional topic.

Medical identity theft

June 21, 2011

Listen here. Aired on Marketplace.

This is a relatively unknown crime but it's growing fast. It happens when someone posing as you gets medical treatment under your name. It gets worse when the imposter has used your insurance. Medical identity theft is hard to clear up thanks to the byzantine healthcare system and privacy laws that can make it tough for the victim to view their own medical records.

There was so much I couldn't fit into this three-and-a-half minute story. The gracious Pam Dixon of The World Privacy Forum was incredibly helpful throughout. Even the FTC sent me to her when I called them asking for information about this crime. She says more than 90 percent of medical identity theft takes place behind computer screens at hospitals, clinics and their subcontractors, so there's very little the humble patient can do about it. She and her colleagues are coming out with a new report on medical identity theft this summer. In the meantime, if your wallet is stolen, tell your insurance company as well as your credit card company. That insurance card could be a gold mine for someone.

HIV in the over-50s

November 11, 2010

Listen here.

AIDS over 50

Aired on The Health Show. A shorter version of the piece also aired on Voice of America.

Courtesy of Andy Chen Design

Thanks to effective drugs, many people who contracted HIV when they were younger are living into their fifties and beyond - something they never imagined when they were first diagnosed. The Centers for Disease Control predicts that by 2015, half of Americans with HIV/AIDS will be 50 and older. But in addition to these longtime patients, the number of people contracting the disease in their fifties is rising. The majority of this population gets the virus through heterosexual sex. This story looks at the challenges of getting a prevention message across to a group that never thought it needed to worry about the consequences of unprotected sex.

More patient data could mean better healthcare

November 23, 2009

Listen here. Aired on Marketplace. 

Studies show that minorities and non-English speakers don't fare as well in the healthcare system as everyone else. There are various efforts afoot to change that. One involves making sure doctors' offices and hospitals gather deeper data on patients, the better to know their language skills and past histories. The idea is the more medical staff know about a patient, the more they can do to help.

Affording healthcare in a recession

November 4, 2008

Listen here. Aired on Marketplace.

This story aired on election day 2008, so I'm not sure whether anyone heard it. Since then healthcare has become a huge story, as healthcare reform bills battled their way through Congress. Back then Marketplace wanted to know whether people who were losing their jobs or were otherwise affected by the recession could still afford the care they needed. The answer, of course, was no. People were cutting back in various ways. I also spoke to a professor who has done research suggesting that overall, our health is better during a down economy, rather than worse.