Chapter Twenty
Kate, do you know what you’re implying?” Lucy Mae sank onto her sofa, shaking her head. “My mother is deathly ill because of a careless nurse’s mistake, not some theft conspiracy. Who would want to steal an elderly woman’s medical record? The whole idea is so far-fetched!” The woman had a mulish set to her face.
“Only a couple of days ago, I would have agreed with you.” Kate unfolded the news articles she’d brought along.
She was lucky to have caught Lucy Mae at home this morning. A few minutes later, and the mayor’s wife would have been on the road to Chattanooga. When Kate arrived, Lucy Mae told her she’d allow only a few minutes for Kate to make her case, and then she was heading for her mother’s bedside.
Kate took a fortifying breath and sent up a silent prayer. She needed to be convincing. Mrs. Kraemer’s life might depend on getting that medical record exposed to the light, as well as any chance of presenting solid proof for law enforcement to pursue.
“Listen to this,” Kate said. “The director of communications for the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud calls medical-record identity theft ‘the fastest growing form of identity theft in America today.’ And this article”—she pulled another one from her stack—“contains a warning from the World Privacy Forum that medical identity theft causes ‘great harm’ to its victims’ health and finances. And then there’s a quote from a prominent money magazine.” She waved a third stapled set of papers. “It says ‘financial identity theft might wound your wallet, but medical identity theft can kill you.’”
Kate leaned toward the other woman. “Do you still think the idea sounds far-fetched? I mean, what with Paul’s erroneous medical bill and another person in Copper Mill experiencing serious financial problems for the same reason, we’ve got all the signs of medical identity theft. What if there is something criminal going on here? Can we afford to ignore the possibility?”
Lucy Mae’s brow puckered, but the hard planes had eased from her jawline. Did a hint of interest gleam in those gray eyes?
“Let me see the articles.” She held out her hand. “It can’t hurt to look.”
Kate gave her the sheets, then sat back and waited. Her fingers itched to drum against the hardwood arm of the antique, brocade-covered chair her hostess had offered her. She clasped her hands together and crossed her legs. Her foot began to swing back and forth. Stop that!
Lucy Mae glanced up from an article. “This information isn’t put out by fly-by-night organizations.”
“No, it’s not.”
“How come more isn’t said about this in the news or by the government?”
Kate spread her hands. “I can’t answer that.”
The other woman read on for another ten minutes, her breathing growing more agitated by the second. At last her head jerked up, and she fixed Kate with a steady stare. “If—and I emphasize the word if—my mother is the victim of medical-record identity theft, and someone else’s information is mixed in with hers, then she’s in danger of another medical error at any time.”
A band of tension released around Kate’s lungs, and they filled with cleansing air. “I was counting on you to see the risk.”
“What can I do about it?” Lucy Mae’s gaze pleaded for direction.
Kate took another deep breath. This was where her plan went into action. “I assume you’re her power of attorney.”
“I am.” The woman nodded.
“And you’re familiar with her medical history.”
“Intimately.”
“Then get a copy of your mother’s medical record as quickly as you possibly can and go over it with a microscope. Now, the powers that be might try to tell you they need up to several weeks to put it together, but—”
“Weeks, my big toe.” Lucy Mae scowled. “I’m going straight over to the hospital records department and camp there until they hand it over. Lawton is friends with someone high up in the administration of the Chattanooga Health System. We’ll get it done.” The mayor’s wife surged to her feet, nostrils flaring. “Can I take these articles with me?” She waved the sheaf of papers.
“Be my guest.” Kate waved. “I can always print out more.”
The stocky woman bustled toward her vestibule, and Kate followed. At the door, Lucy Mae whirled. Kate put on her brakes just in time to avoid a collision.
Jowls quivering, the woman gazed up at her. “You said there was someone else in town having problems with something like this.”
“On the financial end, yes.”
“What are they planning to do about it?”
“I’m still waiting on the person to decide.”
Lucy Mae huffed and went out the door. Kate watched from the sidewalk as the mayor’s wife marched to her car and drove away. A warm breeze ruffled Kate’s hair, and she smiled. Pity the poor medical-records clerk who tried to make Lucy Mae wait two seconds for access to her mother’s record. And if the mayor’s wife found anything out of order in that record, they’d have something to take to the sheriff’s office that would make the authorities sit up and pay attention.
When Kate got home, she turned on her computer and ordered an online credit report for her and Paul. She practically held her breath until it came up, but their status was good. Whatever was going on with medical records hadn’t affected their credit yet. So far, so good. She’d instructed Loretta to do the same for herself or have Livvy show her how at the library if she wasn’t sufficiently comfortable with a computer.
Next, Kate did a search for legal-aid societies in Tennessee. She got excited about what she found. The Tennessee Citizens Privacy Association had an office in Chattanooga. Kate took down two copies of the address on slips of paper—one for her and Paul, and one for Loretta.
Humming, she grabbed her handbag and headed for the Country Diner. LuAnne was making coffee behind the counter when Kate stepped into the restaurant. The waitress turned at the sound of the door and grinned. Kate smiled back. Judging by LuAnne’s improved mood, things must be looking up a little at the diner.
“Is Loretta here?”
“Where else?” LuAnne dipped her chin toward the kitchen. “Whatever you’re doing to help Loretta, it’s working. She actually cracked half a smile today.”
Kate laughed. “I’ve got something I hope will lift both sides of her mouth.” She waved the slip of paper with the contact information for the legal-aid society.
“Well, go on back and give it to her.”
Loretta was flipping a burger on a big black griddle when Kate stepped into the kitchen. The woman glanced at her visitor and bobbed a nod.
“Gimme a minute here,” she said while arranging a bun with lettuce and tomato on a plate. “No phone calls today. That’s something. Maybe they’ll quit now that you told them about that identity-theft thing.”
“Loretta!” Kate scolded.
“I know, I know. Wishful thinkin’.” She turned and put the burger plate in the pickup window and dinged the bell. “Order up!”
LuAnne’s head appeared at the window. She grabbed the plate, shot a hopeful look toward Kate, and hurried off.
Loretta turned toward Kate, rubbing her hands against her apron. “I don’t know what I’m scared of more, I guess. Keepin’ on with the bills and the phone calls or gettin’ started on some legal battle.”
Kate walked forward and hugged the wiry-framed cook. The woman took a long, shuddery breath and quivered in Kate’s arms.
Kate took a step back and held out the piece of paper. “Talk to these people. Paul and I will be. Then you call me, and we’ll work together on whatever they tell us to do.”
“Fair enough.” Loretta nodded and accepted the address and phone number. That half smile LuAnne had mentioned teased at one corner of Loretta’s mouth. “I’ll say one thing for you, Kate Hanlon. You’re more persistent than a winter cough.”
Kate laughed. “Was that meant to be a compliment?”
The diner owner smiled sheepishly. “It means I haven
’t decided if you’re helpin’ get rid of the problem or makin’ it worse.”
“The former is decidedly my intention.” Kate squeezed Loretta’s arm.
“And I appreciate it. Honest.”
“Order up!” LuAnne’s voice called.
“No rest for the wicked.” Loretta’s gravelly chuckle brought a smile to Kate’s face.
“I’ll be waiting to hear from you.” Kate withdrew from the kitchen. She started for the door, but an urgent pssst stopped her.
LuAnne thrust a white paper sack into Kate’s hands. “Some peanut croquettes. Loretta whipped ’em up special this morning for you, and now she forgot to send them. She’s been forgetful like that since...you know.”
“Tell Loretta thank you.” She laid a hand on LuAnne’s arm. “I gave her the number for a legal-aid society. Don’t let her weasel out of calling.”
“I’m on the case.” LuAnne bobbed her head. “No weaselin’ on my watch.”
Chapter Twenty-One
After running a few errands around town, Kate arrived home to find the light blinking on their answering machine, indicating two messages. She pressed the Play button and listened as she stowed away groceries. The first message was from Sam Gorman about choir practice. The next message started with a growly hello. Kate froze with a box of pasta in her hands. Loretta?
“I hate leaving messages on machines,” the diner owner grumped. “Call me at home.”
Was that a good sign or a bad sign that Loretta had left the diner so soon after Kate delivered the information about the legal-aid society? Kate quickly finished stowing her purchases and then settled in the living room with the cordless phone. The diner owner answered on the first ring.
“Hi, Loretta, what’s up?” Kate dove right in.
“I did it. I called those people at that privacy organization.” The woman was as excited as Kate had ever heard her. “They told me I sound like a textbook case for that record theft stuff, and they said I’ve got nothin’ to hide or be ashamed about. I need to come right out in the open and make some noise so something gets done. It’s happened to lots of folks, and it’s a mess, but there’s hope.”
Relief bubbled inside Kate. At last, some progress in the right direction with Loretta. “Did they tell you how to go about dealing with the problem? Paul is going to make a similar call today.”
“I got an earful, that’s for sure. They can hook me up with an honest lawyer. Not that I’m convinced yet that those words go together.” The diner owner snorted. “But the first thing to do was—like you said—go report the problem to the police. I plan to take my fistful of doctor bills down to the town hall and see the police right now.”
“Bravo for you, Loretta!” Kate let out a congratulatory chuckle.
Silence answered from the other end. “Would you go with me?” the woman suddenly blurted. “I mean, it’s just Skip, so I’m not nervous about talkin’ to him, but you know how to explain all this so much better than I can. Plus, you’ve worked with the deputy lots of times, and you know the lingo and the procedures and that sort of thing.”
Kate chuckled. “Well, now, I can’t say that I know the inner workings of a law-enforcement office, but I’d be happy to go with you.”
A long breath of relief gusted into Kate’s ear. “I knew I could count on you. I’m so frazzled, I’d probably just hem and haw and stutter. When I called that privacy group, if the person on the other end didn’t already know about medical-record identity theft, she would have thought I was babbling crazy talk.”
Kate rose. “I’ll be over in a few minutes to pick you up, but I want you to know I gave those articles on record theft to Lucy Mae earlier this morning, so I won’t have them along.”
“Really? Does she think her mother’s record was stolen?”
“She’s not sure, but she’s on a mission to find out.”
“Oh, goody.” Kate could practically hear Loretta’s hands rubbing together. “If she discovers anything suspicious, we’ll have more juice to feed the cops.”
Kate smiled. Finally Loretta was onboard with finding out the truth, and now she’d gone gung ho. “That’s what I’m hoping. Tell you what, I wrote down the Web sites where I found my information. I’ll bring that list along, and Skip can look them up. The information might have more impact if he has to dig for himself.”
“I admire your thinkin’, woman.” Chuckling, Loretta broke the connection.
Kate tapped the phone against her other hand and grinned. So she didn’t have a tampered medical record to take to Skip...yet. Just the funky bills. But she wasn’t about to discourage Loretta from moving ahead to get help. They’d just need to have faith that the rest would follow.
“NOW, MRS. HANLON,” Deputy Skip Spencer scratched his ear beneath flame-red hair and chuckled, “why would anybody steal a medical record? Don’t people have enough of their own illnesses without grabbing somebody else’s?” Perched on the edge of his desk at the Copper Mill Town Hall, the young deputy grinned from Kate to Loretta and back again.
“I can tell you why they’d steal a medical record,” Loretta barked. “To get expensive treatments and avoid paying these.” She thrust a stack of bills at him.
Skip’s eyes widened when he saw the figure on the top notice. “Oh, wow, those are high.”
“Ya think?”
He gingerly took the sheets with one dark hazel eye on the diner owner as if she might swat his fingers.
“Go ahead. Take a look-see.” The woman crossed her arms over her chest.
Clearing his throat, Skip leafed through the pages, then let out a low whistle. “You say someone else ran up these charges in your name and on your insurance?”
Loretta sniffed. “Well, I think I’d know if I had surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation treatment, young man.”
Kate handed the deputy a copy of the bill Paul had received from Regions Hospital. “This came to our house a couple of days ago. Paul has never even darkened the doors of this hospital. Now, isn’t it beyond strange that two individuals from Copper Mill—at least that we know about—have been billed for high-priced medical services they never received?”
The deputy cast Kate a helpless gaze. “I’ve never run into anything like this before. Any idea who did it or how they got their hands on your medical records?”
“Actually, I—”
“That’s why we’re reportin’ the matter to you,” Loretta jumped in. “So you can find out. It’s your job to catch thieves, isn’t it?”
Skip bobbed his head. “But it sure would be nice to have some leads to go on.”
Kate handed the deputy her list of Web sites. “You can start here. Those will give you a clear idea of what medical-record identity theft is, how it’s done, and what types of people are the most common culprits. I’ve been doing a little digging on my own, but—”
“Aha! I thought as much.” Skip grinned. “You’re not one to let questions lie around unanswered. What have you got for me?” He rose and gazed down at Kate, the nostrils of his lopsided, freckled nose fairly twitching. The deputy was always looking to solve that big case that would win respect from his boss, Sheriff Alan Roberts.
Kate spread her hands. “In Loretta’s and our situations, I don’t have a clue how it happened or who was involved, but then there’s the issue with Lucy Mae Briddle’s mother. I’m sure you’ve heard about the medication error that sent her to the hospital.”
Skip nodded. “Who hasn’t? You’re saying you think that was due to medical-record theft too? I don’t follow.”
“Okay, this is generally how it goes.” Kate folded her arms. “Once a stolen record is used by someone who either took the record or bought it from the thief, any services or procedures they have done under the assumed identity can get mixed in with the real record.”
“Yeah, and that can be dangerous for the victim,” Loretta inserted. “You just read those online articles Kate gave you. Some of the stories’ll raise the hair on your head. Folks can a
ctually die from gettin’ the wrong treatment.”
Skip turned a shade paler. “This is pretty serious stuff, then.”
“You said it.” Loretta jerked a nod. “Now are you gonna catch the culprit who charged up these bills in my name or not?”
The deputy turned and picked up a form from his desk, along with a pen and a clipboard. “You sit down.” He motioned toward one of the metal guest chairs. “Fill out this report, and I’ll get right on it.”
By the expression on his face, Kate knew the deputy didn’t have the first clue how. Unless Mrs. Kraemer’s file contained a vital clue, she didn’t either.
“I KEEP GNAWING at the problem of how Loretta’s and your identities got stolen,” she told Paul that evening at the supper table. “If we’re able to confirm that Mrs. Kraemer’s record was also stolen, the culprit has to be a crooked health-care worker at Orchard Hill.”
Paul sat back. “Then how would that person get Loretta’s and my records?”
“I’ve considered the possibility that either Nurse Pritchard or Margo Meyers or the pair somehow hacked into the CHS computer system. It’s simply too much of a coincidence to think the incidents are separate and unconnected.”
Paul waggled his fork at her. “Loretta, Lucy Mae, and I live in the same small town. That’s a common factor.”
Kate frowned, then shook her head. “No, I don’t see Copper Mill as the focal point. Mrs. Kraemer lives in Chattanooga. I think we’re seeing a hint of something that is huge and widespread. I won’t be surprised once an investigation gets rolling if lots of other victims are discovered.”
Paul arched a brow. “You sound very certain Lucy Mae’s going to find more errors in her mother’s chart.” He sliced another bite of the tamale on his plate.
“Actually, I am. My gut says so.”
Her husband smiled. “I have all the respect in the world for your gut.”
“Ditto for yours.” She tapped the bottle of hot sauce that stood between them.
Laughing, he dragged his final bite through the remnants of red sauce that streaked his plate and popped the morsel of tamale into his mouth. The telephone rang as he patted his lips with his napkin.
Off the Record Page 15
