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Data theft puts 860 members of BlueCross BlueShield at risk

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Staff report 5:26 PM Thursday, December 24, 2009

COLUMBUS — A theft of data from computer hard-drive files has put at risk the personal information of more than 860 Ohioans who are members of the BlueCross BlueShield health insurance program, according to Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray and BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee.

Cordray is advising those who are affected to closely monitor their credit reports and various financial accounts.

BlueCross is working with a data security consultant to send notification letters to all program members whose information was stored on the stolen devices, Cordray said.

Updates about the data breach are available on the BlueCross Tennessee Web site at www.bcbst.com., or from the BlueCross Eastgate Response Customer Call Center at (888) 422-2786.

The theft occurred Oct. 2 at a former BlueCross call center in Chattanooga, Tenn., Cordray said. BlueCross has been working since that time to identify the affected individuals.

According to BlueCross, the stolen items included 57 hard drives containing data that were encoded but not encrypted. The data contained information about some BlueCross members, including their names, identification numbers and, in some but not all cases, a diagnosis, date of birth and/or a Social Security number.

Consumers can protect their information by examining each of their three credit reports for free once a year at www.AnnualCreditReport.com, Cordray said. They may also place a freeze on their personal credit with each credit reporting agency for $5 per report.

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