Aw fuck. My ID was stolen through insurance company.

[uppityperson]

I just got notice of a security breach at the company BC/BS and Regence uses for something, many of the health care providers tax IDs, ss#s, NPI#s, addresses have been stolen. Including mine.

I am a massage therapist who bills insurance companies when a client has this benefit. I've had to fill out forms, submit money in some cases, prove that I am a reputable, trained, licensed and experienced LMP. I've had to prove I have the right amount of insurance for myself and have to take whatever the insurance co wants to pay, sometimes taking up to 6 months to pay. I have to keep adequate records for long enough to prove that I provide a health care service, am not a "masseuse doing massage with a happy ending". I've been asked if I provide that service, and tell them it is not in my scope of practice, then laugh when I hang up the phone.

There are not many of us who care to jump through the insurance hoops since it takes a fair bit of time and money and hassle and you don't know if you will get paid.

That said, I just got a letter from BC/BS stating that someone downloaded personal data, including ss# and NPI#s (national provider id #, if you do insurance work, you need to have one) onto a laptop then stole that laptop.

They went on to reassure me that there are protocols in place to make sure this doesn't happen. Except it just did. That they went on to tell me that it is impossible to download encrypted info like this onto a personal laptop. Except someone COULD download it onto a company laptop. Then steal it.

They are offering me 1 yr's free credit watching, and someone to help if my ID gets stolen and used. One year.

Thanks a lot Blue Cross/Blue Shield, thaks a lot Regence.

[glowing]

1. If I were you, I'd find a lawyer. I'm assuming you aren't the only one who

had their info stolen. Many together could make a nightmare for this company.. and why aren't they looking for the individual who stole the lap top? Or do they even know which employee did this and if the employee is still working for the company?

[jbnow]

2. One year offer is common enough that theives can wait a year and a day

to pass these out. They could usually find some news that tells about the breech and notification. I haven't heard of that happening, just always think that is what I would do if I were that criminal.
So sorry! What a hassle. If it was just a credit card you cancel the card...but ss#...well no.

These ID thefts are so common and many places don't even tell the people affected. Maybe they have to when it is a provider? Some states require notification (California) but most states don't which seems unbelievable.
I know people who don't do business over the internet and think they are safe...but if the business they use does it is no safety at all.

It sounds like a heavy burden when ID is stolen and used...a long, long fight to clear a record. People with money can get one of those services that watches for you and will do the cost and time of clearing things up if there is theft and hopefully that covers you. It's not that expensive and probably worth the peace of mind.

But there should be laws protecting us, the expense should never be on you.
Good luck

[Historic NY]

3. Ah..I got one of those too & my insurance is through Ny State....

it appears to be a scheme to get you to sign up for credit watching. I would have been notified by the state health insurance plan but never got one thing. I called them and thats exactly what it is. Its like free credit report dot com. I told the company I would have expect the NY State and its government health insurance would have sent me some notice before this offer. No answer other than the offer.

[uppityperson]

4. I got mine directly from Premera which is a BC group, here is letter

"All BCBS plans share in-network provider information with the BC & BS Association (BCBSA) as a benefit for members in all states and jurisdictions represented by a BCBSA plan.

The BCBSA has informed Premera that the association experienced an unauthorized transfer of provider data, which included name, address, tax identification and NPI. A BCBSA employee transferred unencrypted provider data info onto a personal laptop, in violations of the BCBSA's established data security policies, and that laptop was stolen.

blah blah arranged to offer you free credit monitoring, including identity credit insurance, for one year, provided by ConsumerInfo.com,Inc, an Experian company.

blah blah blah If you are also a contracted provider with Regence, you will be receiving a letter from them with the same activation code.

blahblah blah

Premera takes our responsibility to protect your information very seriously; we have strict security protocols that prohibit our employees from downloading confidential informaion to removable media devices (like flash drives, CDs and DVDs) to ensure such data cannot be loaded to personal laptops. We also ensure that all of our company laptops are encrypted. Premera BC sincerely regrets this unauthorixzd transfer of data."

[nc4bo]

5. A total of 850,000 id's stolen from BC/BS

http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/45985

Another stolen laptop ... and this time we have 850,000 doctors swallowing the bitter pill of knowing that their sensitive professional and personal information may have fallen into hands bent on identity theft.

According to this report in Amednews.com, an American Medical Association publication:

A file containing identifying information for every physician in the country contracted with a Blues-affiliated insurance plan was on a laptop computer stolen from a BlueCross BlueShield Assn. employee. It is not yet known whether any identity theft has resulted from the data breach.

The file included the name, address, tax identification number and national provider identifier number for about 850,000 doctors, Jeff Smokler, spokesman for the Chicago-based Blues association, said Oct. 6. That number represents every physician who is part of the BlueCard network, which allows Blues members to access networks in other states, Smokler said.

Then there's this story. I can't tell if this is the same incident as above or a different one. The way the story is written makes it sound like there were only 50,000 people affected not the total number (850,000) who were actually affected by the theft.

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/pittsburgh/s_646845.html

Health insurance giant Highmark is joining other Blues affiliates nationwide in offering free credit monitoring and identity theft protection to tens of thousands of doctors after a laptop containing their names, addresses and social security numbers was stolen.

Blues plans send physician identification information to the Chicago-based Blue Cross Blue Shield Association weekly for a national network listing, according to Lisa Martinelli, Highmark’s chief privacy officer. The data spill occurred after the information was decoded and downloaded onto an unidentified employee’s personal laptop, which was then stolen from a car.

“In our world, it’s a violation of policy,” Martinelli said. “We have no indication the data has been used improperly.”

The theft occurred in early September in the Chicago area and tens of thousands of doctors nationwide were affected, according to association spokesman Jeff Smokler, but social security numbers for only 16 percent to 20 percent of the doctors were part of the theft.

In either case, it definitely sounds like there are more than enough people for a class action lawsuit and a measly 1 year credit monitoring.

I'd definitely contact a lawyer!

[uppityperson]

6. thank you for the links, will check later tonight.

[nc4bo]

7. Are you aware of any BC/BS messageboards out there?

Even boards for medical professionals?

Seriously, you guys have a lot to talk about. BC/BS is trying to squash the story. This happened how many months ago and word is just now getting out there? :wtf:

[uppityperson]

8. Off to read, August 27th? And now it is1 1/2 months later and we're finally notified?

Thank you. That is something. I'll do some checking on it and see. Good lord

[onethatcares]

9. there sure seems to be a lot of that stuff,

accidentally decoding and downloading onto PERSONAL LAPTOPS that is. I mean, why the hell would an employee feel the need to decode and download the information on 850,000 doctors and then accidentally leave the laptop in his/her personal automobile where it somehow happens to get stolen?

Sounds more like a disgruntled employee buttfarking the company. Can we get them to identify him/her?

[FlyingSquirrel]

10. You live in WA... here's a link

http://www.atg.wa.gov/freezecharts.aspx

You don't have to wait till someone tries to get credit in your name. You can prevent it. Actually a good idea for anyone, even if you haven't had identity theft problems.

Basically, you contact the three major credit bureaus and get your credit frozen. That means nobody can get credit in your name, NOT EVEN YOURSELF, without a PIN that you select when you freeze your credit.

It might be free for you, depending on how they interpret "Identity theft". Or you might have to pay $10 per agency (and then you'd have to pay again to have them temporarily lift it when you want to apply for credit.)

Not a perfect solution given the money it would cost, but definitely would give you some peace of mind.

[uppityperson]

11. Thank you for that, I'll check it out and very much appreciate it.