CalOptima based in the California recently suffered data breach. It has reported the second breach in a month. According to the reports, PHI data breach has affected 56,000 individuals. 
Incident involves former CalOptima employee who downloaded data to an unencrypted USB flash drive. Affected information includes patient names, other demographic information, and other health plan-related information. Also, Social Security numbers, and the Social Security numbers of children were included for few cases.
Different notification letters were posted to the California Attorney General’s Office based on whether Social Security numbers were included or not.
“While we are still investigating this matter, CalOptima felt it was important to notify you promptly of this incident,” explained one of the notification letters. “We regret that this occurred and want to assure you that we are changing our procedures and practices to minimize the risk of it happening again.”
CalOptima spokeswoman Bridget Kelly mentioned that the investigation is going on. She also added that there is no reason to believe that the information was misused.
“We have implemented several additional safeguards to better protect members against this type of incident in the future,” Kelly said.
As per the statement, facility has asked the affected individuals to follow guidelines.
We recommend that you monitor your credit using the free service from IDT911. CalOptima is providing you with access to Triple Bureau Credit Monitoring services at no charge. These services provide you with alerts for twelve months from the date of enrollment when changes occur to any of one of your Experian, Equifax or TransUnion credit files. This notification is sent to you the same day that the change or update takes place with the bureau. These services will be provided by IDT911, a company that specializes in identity theft education and resolution.
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