The Associated Press reports that BCBS in Chattanooga now says that 220,000 members had personal information on the hard drives reported stolen in October, but that the number could go up to 500,000. In other words, they still don’t know who had what on the stolen hard drives. By today’s standards, it’s taking them too…
Author: Dissent
CT Sues Health Net For Massive Security Breach (updated)
Attorney General Richard Blumenthal today sued Health Net of Connecticut, Inc. for failing to secure private patient medical records and financial information involving 446,000 Connecticut enrollees and promptly notify consumers endangered by the security breach. Blumenthal is also seeking a court order blocking Health Net from continued violations of HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability…
Health Net response to CT lawsuit
I received the following statement from Health Net in response to my request for a statement: Health Net of Connecticut Statement – January 13, 2010 Protecting the privacy of our members is extremely important to us. Health Net’s company policy states that data must be encrypted and secured. Health Net has just received a copy…
ID theft and fraud defense: Multiple Personality Disorder?
Tom Witowsky reports on a case where lawyers for accused embezzler Phyllis Stevens are considering offering her psychiatric history of being treated for Multiple Personality Disorder as part of their defense in federal court. Stevens was indicted on 20 counts of money laundering, wire fraud, identity theft and computer fraud for allegedly embezzling nearly $6…
TN: Dumped Document Investigation Complete
Karen Zatkulak reports: … It was on September 2nd, that we found the files in a dumpster in St. Elmo. We called Chattanooga Police to report the possible HIPPA violation. But, the patients involved were never contacted. Wednesday, we discovered where those records are now, and how patients can get back their information. [….] Spokesperson…
TX: Dental clerk sentenced for stealing identities of patients
A federal judge sentenced a Brownsville dental clerk to five years and nine months in prison for embezzlement and stealing the identities of patients to open credit cards. Claire Batsell appeared before U.S. District Court Judge Hilda Tagle on Tuesday. The 25-year-old woman pleaded guilty last year to fraudulent means of identification and aggravated identity…