Michigan’s Attorney General is aware of the Inmediata breach and its incident response cock-up that has been reported on this site. People have been complaining here and some have called the state to complain.
Remember that in addition to complaining to your state consumer protection bureau or state insurance department, you can also file a complaint online with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
As seen on AG Nessel’s web site yesterday:
LANSING – Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and Department of Insurance and Financial Services (DIFS) Director Anita G. Fox today alerted Michigan consumers to a data breach affecting Inmediata Health Group, which provides billing and other administrative services to health care providers and health plans around the country. Nessel encouraged residents to take extra precautions to help protect information that may have been compromised.
The breach exposed personal and medical information, which varies between individuals, but can include patient names, addresses, dates of birth, social security numbers, gender, and medical claim information like dates of service, diagnosis codes, procedure codes and treating physician.
The Attorney General’s Office became aware of the breach when two consumers called its Consumer Protection Division after receiving multiple letters from the company dated April 22, 2019, including some misaddressed to other persons. It is unclear how many Michigan residents were impacted at this time, and Nessel’s Corporate Oversight Division is seeking additional information about the breach through a letter to Inmediata to determine its impact in Michigan.
“We have an opportunity to improve Michigan law by adding the Attorney General’s Office as a required state department to be notified by companies impacted by data breaches,” said Nessel
“Data breaches can be devastating to the affected individuals,” she added. “It’s important this office provide affected customers with any and all available resources to help limit the effects of this – or any – breach. And today, we’re doing just that.”
“Individuals who have been notified that their personal information may have been exposed in the Inmediata data breach are encouraged to closely monitor their financial accounts,” said Fox. “If suspicious activity is detected it should be immediately reported to the individual’s financial institution.”
Data breaches are becoming increasingly common in today’s highly tech-savvy society. This is the second breach since the Attorney General took office that she learned of from sources other than the company itself. The last breach was Wolverine Solutions Group.
Affected individuals of any data breach and all Michiganders can take these steps to further protect their information:
- Find out what information was compromised and act accordingly.
- Pull your free credit report at annualcreditreport.com or by calling 877-322-8228.
- Put a fraud alert on your credit file. The Federal Trade Commission provides a checklist for this.
- Consider a security freeze on your credit file.
- Take advantage of any free services being offered as a result of the breach.
- Use two-factor authentication on your online accounts whenever it’s available.
For more information on what to do during a data breach, review the Michigan Attorney General’s consumer alert on data breaches. A toll-free information hotline is being provided by the company to answer consumer questions at 833-389-2392.
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