THERE’S quite a paradox when it comes to our health data. Most of us still cannot readily look at it, but there’s been an epidemic of cybercriminals and thieves hacking and stealing this most personal information.

Last year hundreds of breaches involving millions of health records were reported to the Department of Health and Human Services — with the hackings of the health insurers Anthem and Premera Blue Cross alone affecting some 90 million Americans. At least 10 hospitals and health care systems have had their patient data and information systems literally held for ransom. This month, the national medical lab Quest Diagnostics reported that information on 34,000 patients had been stolen. And these breaches are just the ones that have been disclosed.

Why is our private health information being stolen and trafficked by cybercriminals? For one, these records include information that makes them more valuable to hackers than almost any other type of data. Thieves can use this information to order medical equipment and drugs to resell and to fraudulently bill insurance companies, the costs of which are passed along to consumers.