…if you were a respected professional serving a (relatively) small community…

…with a given name that was the same as a high-profile official in another country…

…that would be easily recognized by a largely Asian immigrant community…

…and your name was used as a masthead on a clinic allegedly created to commit Medicare fraud?

This is what is happening to our family doctor. I am not going to link to the articles or name him here, for our own privacy and also for his.

He is devastated by this. When I read the first article two weeks ago I was appalled, and my first reaction was utter disbelief. So I started doing some research, and the more I read, the less things made sense.

In the meantime there were some awful comments attached to the articles published on the newspaper’s website by anonymous commenters who didn’t know him at all, and I felt compelled to respond. With my real name. Since then my phone rings off the hook daily with blocked phone numbers and hangups. The same is true for the business phone.

I stand by what I said. In the 12 years that I have dealt with this doctor and his office there has never, ever been even a hint of dishonest insurance billing. In fact, they are meticulous in that office with the detail and making sure that everything balances out. You would have to stretch a long way to convince me that there was any Medicare fraud committed by this man or his office or his staff.

On the other hand, he is an extremely trusting and open person in addition to being an excellent doctor. I could envision a scenario where someone with less than ethical motives set up a situation where he ends up with his identity used for their fraudulent purposes.

According to newspaper accounts, the government alleges receipt of $120,000 in Medicare reimbursements for office visits that didn’t happen. According to the office staff the newspaper accounts don’t even approach accurate reporting of what’s going on. Every person on the staff is firmly behind him. His staff has very low turnover, which also says something of the man.

I know that there are people out there who can have us all fooled, but in my heart of hearts I do not believe this man is one of them. What scares the hell out of me is that the government does, and they can and do run amok in the name of “enforcement”. In their zeal, they overlook facts, fail to disclose evidence, and generally weight the playing field in their favor.

Over the course of my career I have had to deal with government agencies regularly. I was advised by mentors early on that when I was challenged, I should plan a strategy of what I was willing to give up to settle things, because the challenge would not go away without some concession.

I’ve never operated that way unless my client instructs me to. I always give them the option and will fight to the end to defend what they did and how it was done. If they choose not to fight, we don’t. But in situations where they were willing to go the distance, I have won it for them every time. Make no mistake, if you ever come under scrutiny by the government, they will expect you to give them something to go away. Even if it’s $50 to buy your way out of a ticket when they make it impossible to prove your identity in a timely fashion.

If you can’t prove it they come after you. If you have it stolen they come after you. Are we really comfortable with the notion of allowing the government — particularly the FEDERAL government — the role of being the guardians of our identities?

What would you do?

Technorati Tags: identity, identity theft, medicare fraud, government power plays