Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/512454
Didyougettheletter? The one that regrets to in- form you that your per- sonal infor- mation has been hacked from that company's database and is now in the hands of who- knows? Unless you are living at 123 On- Another-Planet, you know that identity theft is Amer- ica's fastest-growing crime—and now more spe- cifically, medical identity theft. It took Michael W. five years to finally discover who'd been stealing his identity and using it to re- ceive $345,000 in medi- cal care at Ohio State Uni- versity's Wexner Medical Center. The problem was that Michael, who lives in South Carolina, had never been in Ohio. His driv- er's license was stolen six years earlier and the thief had used it to get medical treatment. I just read about a woman who discov- ered she'd been identi- fied as the mother of a baby whose drug-addicted birth mother abandoned the baby at the hospital and stole this woman's health insurance informa- tion. What followed was the kind of nightmare that sends chills up my spine. Child custody authori- ties attempted to remove her biological children from her home, and she got hit with huge legal and medical bills on top of the defamation of her good name and reputation in the community. What it is. Medical iden- tity theft occurs when someone uses personal in- formation like your name, Social Security number or health insurance ID to get medical care, submit claims or buy drugs and expensive medical equip- ment. If the thief uses your identity to receive medi- cal services or prescrip- tion drugs, that could cre- ate a flag in the system that triggers regulators or even law enforcement to track you down. The next time you seek care, you could end up with the wrong medical history, wrong blood type, inaccu- rate allergies and other er- rors that could end up be- ing deadly for you. Protect your informa- tion. While it can be dif- ficult to protect yourself against a data breach, you should fiercely safeguard your Social Security num- ber and medical insurance card. Treat medical bills, prescription drug labels and insurance statements as you would any other sensitive information— shred them. Set up accounts. Set up for online accounts with your medical providers, in- surance company and pre- scription drug provider, even if you don't intend to use them. That will help to prevent someone else from signing up under your name. Be vigilant. Guard against fraud by moni- toring all medical billing statements and return- ing any calls from medical billing offices. Routinely check the ac- curacy of your medical re- cords. Look for things like your blood type, medi- cal conditions and pro- cedures. Request to have your medical records cor- rected if you find false in- formation. Safeguarding your med- ical information, credit re- port, financial and insur- ance statements may not prevent all cases of med- ical identity theft, but it can help you notice fraud faster so you can move quickly to correct it. Get protected. On Jan. 29, 2015, Anthem health insurance learned it had been hacked. Personal identifying information of up to 80 million customers was stolen. Within three days of the breach, I received an email from LifeLock, instructing me what to do and how to respond to this news, given that Anthem is my healthcare provider. That's because I have LifeLock identity theft protection. I eventually heard from Anthem, but not until six weeks had passed. Life- Lock was right on top of the situation with infor- mation, assurance and a plan of attack should they detect even a hint of com- promise on my behalf re- garding the Anthem inci- dent, or any other incident that can affect me nega- tively. LifeLock is not the only insurance option for ID theft. I just happen to think it is the best. It is proactive, constantly mon- itoring over a trillion data points for threats to my identity, my good name, my credit scores. I even get alerts if they detect that a registered sex offender has moved into a neighbor- hood nearby. LifeLock works to stop credit and medical ID theft before it happens. And when they can't pre- vent it, they fix it. Make sure to visit www.every- daycheapskate.com/life- lock and you will automat- ically get 10% off and 30 days free on your LifeLock membership. Alternatively, call 1-800-780-7505 and men- tion promo code EC30 on signup for the same spe- cial deal. EmailMaryatmary@ everydaycheapskate.com. EVERYDAYCHEAPSKATE Protect yourself against the fastest-growing crime RED BLUFF In an effort to control invasive weeds like medusa head and star thistle, the Tehama- Glenn Unit of the Califor- nia Department of For- estry and Fire Protection will team up with the Na- ture Conservancy to burn 626 acres of grass in the Dye Creek area Wednes- day, May 20. Cal Fire and the Nature Conservancy will burn 464 acres of grass Friday, May 22 on the Nature Conser- vancy's Vina Plains Pre- serve. The burn will take place east of State Route 99E in the Vina area. Both burns will be con- ducted weather permit- ting. Burning will start at around 9 a.m. and should be completed by 3 p.m. Cal Fire conducts burns with cooperating land man- agers under the Vegetation Management Program, a state sponsored cost shar- ing program to encourage prescribed fires on private property. The purpose of the burn is to improve rangeland and reduce noxious grass spe- cies for better cattle graz- ing. In addition, it gives re- turning seasonal firefight- ers live fire training in preparation for fire season. WEED CONTROL Ca l Fi re p la ns r an ge la nd b ur ns t hi s mo nt h Mary Hunt MOUNTSHASTA Planning is underway for the Rotary Club of Mount Shasta's 3rd annual "Castle Crags Cen- tury" on Saturday, June 20. Last year's ride was a huge success with more than 300 cyclists pouring into the community. This year's attendance is ex- pected to be around 400. Mount Shasta Rotary Club is organizing and sponsoring the event with the help and support of Mercy Medical Center Mt. Shasta and Mercy Founda- tion North. Half of the net proceeds will be given to Mercy Foundation North for the benefit of the hos- pital Auxiliary's free trans- portation program. The other half will support Rotary's local trail-build- ing efforts. The one day event is not a race, and will offer 4 ride options for riders, in- cluding a 97-mile Century ride and 62.5-mile Metric Century ride, which will feature a dynamic and incredibly scenic route over Mumbo Summit and around Castle Crags. The ride will travel through Castella along the Sacra- mento River through Dun- smuir and back to the city park for lunch. The Century riders will continue after lunch along the same route the 34.5-mile Half Met riders will take, heading out Old Stage Road and continu- ing through Edgewood, around Hoy Road, return- ing through Weed. There will once again be a Gone Fishin' ride op- tion of 10 miles with a stop at the Sisson Museum for a little local history and a short visit to the fish hatchery. All riders will enjoy fab- ulous rest stops along the route, SAG support, med- ical support, lunch in the park and a post-ride meal with local microbrew, live music, and free massage from the students at Mari- nello in Redding. Prices go up May 20 so get reg- istered. More information and registration can be found at www.castlecragscen- tury.com or by emailing castlecragscentur y@ gmail.com. CYCLING Castle Crags Century set for June 20 By Claire Lester Red Bluff FFA's For- estry, Livestock Judging and Horse Judging teams headed to Cal Poly State Finals April 30 in San Luis Obispo. The teams arrived early to practice judging and visit some of the lo- cal attractions. Upon ar- riving that night, every- one went to visit the San Luis Obispo farmers mar- ket. There were numerous stands where people can buy anything from straw- berries to soup to a tri-tip dinner as well as the infa- mous gum wall. Later, Red Bluff FFA visited the famous Hearst Castle and took a tour of Hearst's magnificent home on a hill. Next, everyone headed to the beach for a few hours of relaxing in the sun, swimming and men- tally preparing for the competition the next morning. Red Bluff FFA also visited the Madonna Inn. On the last morning, the biggest competition of the year began at the Cal Poly campus. After several hours of evaluating animals, pre- senting memorized rea- sons and measuring and identifying plants for for- estry, the final competi- tion of the year came to an end. Red Bluff FFA is ex- cited to announce that af- ter many months of hard work, Forestry won first high team out of the en- tire state of California and Livestock and Horse judging both made im- provements on their team scores. Michaela Black won third high individual in the state. Red Bluff's Forestry team will now be compet- ing at Nationals in Octo- ber. Red Bluff FFA arrived back in Red Bluff with a sense of accomplishment and blue and gold pride. Everyone did an amaz- ing job. FFA competes at state finals COURTESYPHOTO The Red Bluff High School FFA in San Luis Obispo. YOUTH The Chico Rod & Gun Club's annual Sport Show, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Satur- day and Sunday, will fea- ture Noel Haggard with Brad Petersen and Friends in concert on Saturday. The buy, sell, trade gun show hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days at the Chico Elks Lodge, 1705 Manza- nita Ave. The opening cer- emony starts at 8:45 a.m. with a gun salute by the Marine Corp League. Free outside display of military vehicles, sport boats and trailers, drawings and live radio remote. Gun show admission is $7 for one day or $12 for both and those ages 17 and under must be accompa- nied by an adult. Gates open at 5 p.m. Sat- urday for special events, including a barbecue and beer, followed by the con- cert, 7-10 p.m. at the Lodge. Tickets to the evening events are $20 in advance and $25 at the gate or at the gun show Saturday. Also purchase tickets from Diamond W Western Wear, Halls Harley David- son, Austins Auctions, Ca- sino 99, Schannagins Bar & Grill, Scotty's Landing, Downrange Indoor Train- ing Center, or online at chi- cogunclub.org and noel- haggard.brownpapertick- ets.com. CHICO Gun show this weekend LIFESTYLES » redbluffdailynews.com Friday, May 15, 2015 MORE ATFACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A4