Millions Potentially Affected by Premera Data Breach

August 13, 2015, 10:30AM. By Heidi Turner

Los Angeles, CAWith so many data breach lawsuits in the news lately, a person would think that companies that have access to private consumer or patient information would take cyber security seriously. Unfortunately, every day there seems to be more news about companies that have been hit by hackers and have allowed customer information to be made vulnerable. One of the more recent of the data breaches is the Premera data breach, in which approximately millions of patients had their private information compromised.

Lawsuits have followed, with plaintiffs alleging Premera Blue Cross did not properly or adequately secure customer information. The lawsuits allege negligence on Premera’s part. As of July 15, 2015, the number of lawsuits consolidated for pretrial proceedings sits at around 35, according to court documents. But the multidistrict litigation (MDL Number 2633) was only just approved, and more lawsuits could certainly be filed, given the massive number of patients affected by the cyber attack.

Reports indicate that up to 11 million customers may have had their information compromised, although some reports put that number affected at around 4.5 million. Still, for those whose information was accessed, the results can be disatrous.

That’s because information stored by companies such as Premera could be used to commit identity theft, where thieves file for credit or tax refunds under someone else’s name. That puts the victim at risk of having his or her credit negatively affected and having lenders come after the victim for bogus mortgages and lines of credit, not to mention the trouble he or she could face for a fraudulent tax return.

Even those who aren’t victims of large-scale identity theft face the time and hassle of sorting out the consequences of having credit

Patient health information is protected under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). HIPAA also requires timely notification of information breaches, which critics say was violated here. According to some attorneys, Premera allegedly knew about issues in its security systems from an audit, but did not adequately address those issues, leaving patient information vulnerable.

Furthermore, the data breach allegedly started back in May 2014, but Premera reportedly didn’t warn customers until March 2015. Patients were notified by a letter that their personal information might have been accessed.