Andy Miller reports:
Georgia’s largest health insurer sent an estimated 202,000 benefits letters containing personal and health information to the wrong addresses last week, in a privacy breach that also raised concerns about potential identity theft.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia said Monday that the erroneous mailings were primarily Explanation of Benefits (EOB) letters, which include the patient’s name and ID number, the name of the medical provider delivering the service, and the amounts charged and owed.
“A small percentage” of letters also contained the patient’s Social Security numbers, said Cindy Sanders, a Blue Cross spokeswoman. The EOB forms were mailed to the addresses of other Blue Cross policyholders.
[…]
Blue Cross said the mix-up was caused by a change in the computer system that was not properly tested.
Full story – AJC