2 Investigators: Woman Billed For Imposter's Psychiatric Services
(CBS) -- Two families spoke out to CBS 2 after they began receiving hospital bills that could have been the result of stolen or mistaken identities.
Lisa Voss of Chicago tells 2 Investigator Dave Savini billed more than $1,300 by Stroger Hospital. She believes there are likely more victims.
According to medical records with her name on them, Voss was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Voss says she also was told she spent three days medicated and restrained at the county run hospital in May 2014, after police found her wandering the streets vandalizing cars.
However, Voss says none of this happened to her and she was being billed for someone else hospitalized under her name.
"This is someone who has a mental illness walking around with my identity. I was upset," Voss says.
She tried to correct the bill, but said the staff at Stroger Hospital did not believe her and did little to investigate her claim.
In another case, Chicagoan Fred Nelson received a bill for medical service at a different hospital.
"It's a bill for a consultation for my father," Nelson says. "Problem is, my father passed away 2 ½ years ago."
His father, Fred Nelson Sr., who died in 2012, was billed $477 from Medical Services RIC for a July 2014 doctor's office visit at Northwestern Memorial.
Nelson and Voss turned to the 2 Investigators for help. They say hospitals, third-party billers and screeners need to do more to protect patient information and protect against cases of stolen or mistaken identity.
"I am actually beyond aggravated," Voss says.
Both Voss and Nelson say not enough is being done to help people clear their names when false bills start coming.
"I was informed that I am being held liable -- that they did their investigation and they can't prove that it wasn't me," Voss says.
Voss says she was given the runaround for two months, despite repeated calls and visits. So, she made another visit. Savini went along with her.
It turns out no one from Stroger verified the patient's real identity, even though she reportedly arrived at the facility without any identification.
"And when I went in there, I felt like I was the criminal, that I had done something wrong," Voss says. "Like I was the criminal and I am, like, 'I have never been in your hospital.'"
The fake Lisa Voss was transferred from Stroger to state-run Madden Mental Health Center in Maywood. A state spokesperson says Madden staff determined the patient's name was not Lisa Voss; that was caught during their routine screening check.
When CBS 2 informed Stroger, officials there dropped the bill.
In the case of Fred Nelson's deceased father, the bill was corrected after CBS 2 called the billing company. Nelson says how this happened still has not been explained to him; a promised apology letter has yet to arrive.
No one from Medical Services RIC of Carol Stream would comment.
"It really makes me wonder how careful they are," Nelson says. "And how many people this has happened to."
A Stroger Hospital spokesperson says the Voss case led to a review and they are now re-educating staff on internal procedures. Voss says she would like to see hospitals take digital pictures of patients, especially if they do not have identification.
Stroger Hospital officials apologized to Voss for the way she was treated.