Does Anthem need another name change?

Although health insurer WellPoint changed its name to Anthem to better reflect its brand, the corporate name Anthem is now associated with a data breach that involved hackers stealing the data of as many as 80 million of its current and former customers.

In August 2014, WellPoint announced plans to rebrand as Anthem, and in December 2014 the health insurer officially changed its name. However, the recent data breach Anthem suffered isn't the image the health insurer wants associated with its name.

The breach and the subsequent information released about the data hack has sent Anthem into damage control mode, as it is now the source of an investigation by the nation's state insurance commissioners and the defendant in multiple class-action lawsuits alleging the health insurer failed to properly protect its customers' information.

It is still unclear how much of an effect the data hack will have on Anthem financially, according to a Forbes report. In the wake of the data breach news, Anthem shares fell less than 1 percent, according to a CNBC report.

"No one is immune to the cybersecurity threat, even the most sophisticated organizations," Brian Wright, a healthcare analyst with Stern Agee, told CNBC. "As these attacks have become more commonplace, the impact to brand becomes less relevant."

Although the increasing frequency of cyberattacks will likely prevent Anthem's name from being permanently tarnished, that doesn't mean the company is in the clear. The health insurer will "still have some work to do to win back trust and prevent members and providers from leaving its plans," according to CNBC.

More articles on the Anthem data hack:

4 latest Anthem hack developments
8 reactions to the Anthem hack from health IT leaders and cybersecurity experts 
Anthem's data was unencrypted 

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