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(HealthNewsDigest.com) – With the recent string of medical data breaches at Anthem Inc. and Premera, consumers are experiencing confusion and concern as they wonder what real-world repercussions the exposure of their health care information could bring,ProPublica’s Charles Ornstein writes.
While both plans are offering several kinds of support and reaching consumers by email and through websites, some people are still struggling to understand just how they got caught up in this mess in the first place.
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Highlights from Ornstein’s report, co-published with USA Today:
- For Rebecca Fayed, the privacy officer for The Advisory Board Co., Anthem wasn’t even her insurance provider when she fell victim to the data breach. “I had no idea that Anthem even had my data,” she said.
- While retailers such as Target and Home Depot have also suffered data breaches, exposed credit card numbers can be canceled, containing the damage. The hacking of health insurance data, however, is more troublesome, revealing the keys to a person’s identity.
- The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights, which oversees compliance with federal patient privacy law, is investigating the Anthem and Premera breaches. If the agency determines the insurers didn’t take adequate steps to protect members’ health information, it could impose steep fines.
More in the full story here: http://www.propublica.org/
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