Glitch causes breach impacting 6,700 in California
Health Net of California, a subsidiary of insurer Health Net, is notifying approximately 6,700 members of its Health Net Medi-Cal program of a breach of their protected information.
In April and May, identification cards mailed to the members--which constitute 0.6 percent of Health Net’s Medi-Cal members--were mailed to former addresses of the members. Information on the cards included member name, identification number and the name of the primary care physician.
No financial or medical information or Social Security numbers were on the cards and because of that, Health Net of California does not believe there is a need to offer identification theft protection services, according to a spokesperson. Health Net has corrected a programming issue that caused the incorrect mailings and has notified pertinent state government agencies and the Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights.
Editor
Editor Beth earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism and master’s in health communication. She has worked in hospital, academic and publishing settings over the past 20 years. Beth joined TriMed in 2005, as editor of CMIO and Clinical Innovation + Technology. When not covering all things related to health IT, she spends time with her husband and three children.