Anthem reported some protected health information may have been compromised after learning an employee at a third-party coordination service, LaunchPoint Ventures, was likely misusing customer information.
Anthem disclosed 18,580 individuals were affected by the breach, as reported by the HHS Office for Civil Rights breach portal.
LaunchPoint, on April 12, learned one of its employees was likely involved in activities related to identity theft. To address the issue, LaunchPoint hired a forensic firm to investigate. The investigation revealed the employee emailed a file containing information about Anthem members — including Medicare ID numbers, Social Security numbers, health plan ID numbers, Medicare contract numbers and dates of enrollments — to his personal email address July 8, 2016.
LaunchPoint reported the incident to Anthem June 14.
LaunchPoint does not believe any data on the file was misused, but it is in the process of contacting affected individuals and is offering free credit monitoring services. The company has terminated the employee responsible. The investigation is ongoing, as LaunchPoint does not know if the email was related to a legitimate work purposes.
Becker's has reached out to Anthem for additional comment. This story will be updated as more information becomes available.
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