Health Insurer Loses Almost a Million Records

28 Jan 2016 · 2 min

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In a CBS 13 I‑Team news segment, anchor Adrienne introduces a data breach at Centene Corporation, a major U.S. health insurer that administers Medicaid and other government‑sponsored health programs. Reporter John Chrysos explains that Centene cannot locate six hard drives that together contain personal and health information for approximately 950,000 patients who received lab services between 2009 and 2015. The missing data include names, addresses, dates of birth, health details, and Social Security numbers. Although Centene does not operate in Maine, it serves patients in New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, and about 20 other states. Security expert Robert Siciliano comments on the sensitivity of Social Security numbers, noting they can be used to open new credit lines, credit cards, bank accounts, and loans, potentially damaging victims’ credit. The segment underscores the scale of the breach, the types of data exposed, and the real‑world identity‑theft risks associated with such information.

The I-Team confirms medical records of nearly a million people are missing from a major U.S. health insurance company. The company provides programs and services for government-sponsored health care. CBS 13 I-Team reporter John Chrysos is here with what he's learned about this data debacle. John.
Adrienne, it sure is. The company says it can't find several hard drives containing personal and sensitive information of 950,000 customers. That information does include names, addresses, dates of birth, health information, information and Social Security numbers. Centene Corporation is based in St. Louis, Missouri. The company confirms it is searching for 6 missing hard drives. Centene provides services for Medicaid and other government-sponsored healthcare programs. The company says the missing information is for patients who received lab services between 2009 and 2015. Currently, that company doesn't provide services in Maine, but does in New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, and 20 other states. Today, I talked with security expert Robert Siciliano with Hunts Point Robert Siciliano spoke to Fox 6's David Pottschild about how this information could be used in the wrong hands.
The Social Security number in and of itself is not really private. It's sensitive, but again, it could be used to open up new lines of credit, new credit cards, new bank accounts, new loans under the person's name, damaging their credit.
Maine Identity Services is also suggesting you check all your bills for medical services to make sure you actually received those services. In Maine, you can now put a security freeze on your credit file for free, which We do have details on how to do that on our website, wgme.com. And at 6, why some say everyone should now consider a security freeze whether or not you've been notified of a breach. Greg, back over to you. Good information as always, John. Thanks.