Identity Theft and the Things We Carry: Health Care Card

This is another item that, while important, and even useful to carry with you in case something happens, but your health care or insurance card can also put you in potential danger of identity theft.

Obviously, this is one thing many of us would consider to be important to carry in case of emergency illness or injury and understandably so. However, is your Social Security number displayed on the card? Many insurance companies are switching over to the use of different account and identification numbers for their customers. If your insurance company has not made this change, you may want to contact them and ask them to issue a different number. If they are unwilling to do so, you may want to photocopy your card and black out all but the last four digits of your Social Security number and carry that instead. If you need emergency care, your name and the last four digits of your Social Security number are all they should need to look up your insurance information.

You want to be prepared in case of a medical emergency, but you don't want hand over such valuable information as your Social Security number to the wrong person in the process.