I am so proud of Patient Power producer Tamara Perkins for her outstanding work this past week in teeing me up to host a three-part series on medical fraud. They were great programs and I urge you to hear the replays.

On our first program we delved into the murky world of health insurance fraud. With 47 million Americans with no insurance and many others who are under-insured you can bet there are many companies trying to offer services to fill the gap. You can see plenty of ads on CNN and other cable channels. The sad part is, among the offerings are some from outright scam artists. The criminals purport to provide insurance but simply take your money and run. Or they might provide a bit of service to lull you into complacency and then take your money and run.

So here are crooks preying on our most vulnerable people and then when these Americans are sick the insurance they thought they had is nowhere to be found. We offer some buyer beware tips.

Our second program explored medical identity theft. That’s right MEDICAL identity theft. It’s one of the fastest growing health insurance problems. That’s where someone steals your medical id numbers and then people without insurance or drug addicts show up at hospitals and get services and incur charges as they purport to be you. They fly the coop and sometime later you get dinged. Your credit goes bad because you never paid hospital bills you never knew you owed. Or even your medical records were changed. And, for example, if you wound up unconscious in the ER they might not have accurate information. You could be given the wrong blood type or even medicines you were allergic to.

This is another reason to keep a sharp eye on your credit reports and shred personal health documents when discarding them.

Part three of our series looked at medical malpractice and healthcare provider scams. That’s where people with phony healthcare credentials try to hook you up to worthless energy medicine machines, or licensed providers do invasive procedures on people who don’t need them. It also includes doctors who make dumb mistakes. Our experts say it is actually a bigger problem than what’s reported. Our program introduces you to a crusading journalist who sparked Congressional hearings the other day and a law professor who disputes President Bush’s assertion that the medical malpractice problem isn’t all that bad.

Our series had no sponsor, no advertisers, just little ole Patient Power trying to bring important information to you. If this is helpful let us know. It makes our day.

Andrew