If you think you may have been affected by the cyberattack on Premera Blue Cross and haven’t yet heard from the insurer, now is the time to speak up.
Monday, April 20th is the deadline Premera set for itself by which to notify approximately 11 million individuals whose information may have been compromised in a huge data breach. By today, Premera was expected to have finished the process of mailing letters to affected individuals, letters which began going out on March 17.
And if you were notified and didn’t think it was worth following up because you don’t recall being insured by Premera? You may want to reconsider.
It wasn’t just customers directly covered by Premera who had data in Premera’s systems.
Earlier this month, I received a letter from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota regarding coverage I had through that insurer from 2004 to 2008 (then, as now, I lived in the Seattle area, but had a different employer). Washington-based Premera, the notice said, worked with Minnesota’s Blue Cross “to administer certain aspects of your health care plan with us.”
So any Blue Cross member who received health care services in the past 12 years in Premera’s service area of Washington and Alaska may have good reason to pay attention. “That is because 37 independent, locally owned companies across the United States form the Blue Cross Blue Shield system,” the Minnesota letter continued. And those insured through a Blue Cross or Blue Shield company but relying on health care delivered in Premera’s service area were likely in Premera’s records.
Premera’s statements reinforce the Minnesota insurer’s notice: “This incident also affected members of other Blue Cross Blue Shield plans who sought treatment in Washington or Alaska” as far back as 2002.
In March, Premera revealed that its networks had been breached and data that might have been given up included names, dates of birth, email addresses, Social Security numbers, bank account details, and other sensitive information. Premera has offered two years of free credit monitoring and identity theft protection through Experian to those affected with a sign-up deadline of September 30, 2015.
Those who think they should have been notified, but haven’t been yet, are being asked by Premera to call 1-800-768-5817, Monday through Friday, between 5:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. Pacific Time.
