AHCCCS Notifies Members of Breach of Personal Health Information

The Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) became aware of a breach of personal health information on January 15, 2019 affecting 3,146 individuals in Arizona who receive Medicaid coverage.

Upon becoming aware of the breach, AHCCCS conducted an extensive internal investigation and determined that, due to a programming error, 3,146 IRS 1095-B Forms were misdirected to incorrect physical home addresses.

The IRS 1095-B Form, Health Coverage Statement reports an individual’s enrollment in a qualified health plan. The 1095-B Form contains minimal identifying information. In this particular incident, the forms contained a name in conjunction with date of birth. No social security numbers were included on the form.

At the point of discovery, AHCCCS stopped all subsequent mailings to members until the issue could be rectified and the error corrected. Additional internal procedures have been implemented to ensure that this type of error cannot occur again. On March 11, AHCCCS notified, in writing, those members whose health information was compromised.

Affected members who are concerned that their personal information might be used inappropriately may wish to take one or more of the following actions:

1. Place a free credit report fraud alert. A “fraud alert” warns credit reporting agencies that there may be fraud involved in new requests for credit. Only one of the three main credit reporting agencies must be contacted to institute an alert.
2. Place a credit report security freeze. Under Arizona law, a “security freeze” prevents credit reporting agencies from releasing credit information without the consumer’s express permission. To place a security freeze, write to each of the three main credit reporting agencies by certified mail. Arizona law allows a charge of up to $5 for each request. (See www.azag.gov/consumer/security-freeze for details of the security freeze law.)
3. Request a credit report from the three main credit reporting agencies. Consumers are entitled to receive one free credit report each year from each of the three credit agencies: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. Learn more at www.annualcreditreport.com, call 1-877-322-8228, or contact the credit reporting agencies:
• Equifax: 1-800-525-6285, www.equifax.com/personal/ P.O. Box 740241, Atlanta, GA 30374-0241
• Experian: 1-888-EXPERIAN (397-3742), www.experian.com [P.O. Box 9532, Allen, TX 75013
• TransUnion: 1-800-680-7289, www.transunion.com/annual-credit-report, Fraud Victim Assistance Division, P.O. Box 6790, Fullerton, CA 92834-6790
4. Report any suspected identify theft to local police and inform AHCCCS of any filed police reports.

Other resources regarding identity theft are:

Identity Theft Resource Center
www.idtheftcenter.org
1-858-693-7935.
Information is available in English and Spanish.

Federal Trade Commission
https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/features/feature-0014-identity-theft
l-877-ID-THEFT (1-877-438-4338)
Information is available in English and Spanish.

Arizona Attorney General’s Office
www.azag.gov/consumer