Patient data has been exposed in a recently announced security breach impacting almost 8.5 million patients, including members of several Blue Cross and Blue Shield health plans. This breach included full names, email addresses, physical addresses, and telephone numbers. For some, it also includes Social Security Numbers (SSNs), Medicare/Medicaid ID numbers, and other health insurance related information.
Patients who were members of the following health plans have been identified to have been impacted:
- Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota and Blue Plus
- Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama
- Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas
- Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina
- Priority Health
- Regence BlueCross Blue Shield of Oregon
- Regence BlueShield
- Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Utah
- Regence Blue Shield of Idaho
- Trane Technologies Company LLC and/or group health plans sponsored by Trane Technologies Company LLC or Trane U.S. Inc.
Reports on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services breach portal estimates that the data breach has been confirmed to impact 8,493,379 people.
Healthcare SaaS provider Welltok is warning that this data breach exposed the personal data of nearly 8.5 million patients in the U.S. after a file transfer program used by the company was hacked in a data theft attack. Welltok works with numerous health insurers across the U.S., including the ones listed above, in developing online wellness programs, medication adherence and pandemic response, and has created databases with personal patient data and generating predictive analytics. This breach was reported by Welltok in late October, even though it reportedly took place in June of this year. You can view the Notice here.
If you are insured by one of the above organizations and received notification of this breach, your rights may be impacted. For more information about your options, please contact us at 1-800-745-8153.