How did I not know about this lawsuit – or did I just forget? In any event, Kimberly Mirando posts the news on Top Class Actions:
UniCare Life and Health Insurance Company and Wellpoint, Inc. have reached a class action lawsuit settlement over allowing members’ private information to be leaked online. As a result, UniCare members who had their private health information temporarily accessible on the internet may be entitled to a number of benefits under UniCare settlement, including free credit monitoring, identity theft insurance and reimbursements for identity theft and out-of-pocket expenses.
The UniCare settlement resolves a class action lawsuit, entitled Rowe v. UniCare Life and Health Insurance Company, that alleges UniCare and Wellpoint (collectively called “UniCare”) did not properly secure two computer servers that contained private, non-public personal and health information, which caused the private information of certain UniCare members to be temporarily accessible to unauthorized users via the internet in 2007 and 2008.
According to the UniCare class action lawsuit, this private information included settlement Class Members’ names, Social Security Numbers, income information, employment information, phone numbers, medical history, prescription records, medical diagnoses, medical treatment history, and/or other information held by UniCare.
Class Members of the UniCare data leak class action settlement include anyone in the United States who received a letter between April 1, 2007 and June 30, 2008, informing them that their private information entrusted to UniCare had been or may have been made temporarily accessible via the internet. If you are unsure if you received such a letter, you can call (888) 356-0269 to find out if your private information was temporarily made accessible.
Under the UniCare data breach class action settlement, Class Members can receive a number of benefits:
(1) UniCare settlement Class Members whose private information was made accessible online are eligible to receive (a) one year of internet monitoring, which includes identity theft insurance; (b) reimbursement for certain losses from identity theft; and (c) reimbursement for certain out-of-pocket expenses.
(2) UniCare settlement Class Members whose Social Security Numbers were made accessible online are eligible for (a) one year of internet monitoring, which includes identity theft insurance; (b) one year of credit monitoring; (c) reimbursement for certain losses from identity theft; (d) reimbursement for certain out-of-pocket expenses.
(3) UniCare settlement Class Members who had their identity stolen can receive up to $20,000 for Identity Theft Reimbursement if they can prove that their identity was stolen between January 1, 2007 and November 1, 2012.
To claim any of your benefits under the UniCare class action settlement, you must submit a timely claim form. The deadline to request internet monitoring, credit monitoring and identity theft insurance is November 19, 2011. The deadline to request reimbursement for identity theft and/or out-of-pocket expenses is December 13, 2011.
You can find claim forms and more information on your rights under the UniCare Life & Health Insurance Company Class Action Lawsuit Settlement at www.UniCareDataClaims.com.
Note that this is not the breach that led to a recent settlement with the Indiana Attorney General’s Office. This was a breach that I first covered on PogoWasRight.org back in 2008 when I learned that they had not adequately secured their servers after the first reports of the breach (coverage here).