If You're a Health Net Customer, You Should Be Worried

Typically insurance offers assurance, except when the company providing it loses more than 400,000 people's personal data and doesn't report it for six months.

Such is the case with Shelton-based Health Net, which lost 446,000 Connecticut residents' health, personal and financial information in what it termed a "data breach." Perhaps even more serious than the data breach is the fact that it occurred in May and the company waited until Wednesday to inform the state's Attorney General Richard Blumenthal.

"I am outraged and appalled by Health Net's huge loss of personal financial and medical information and its failure to swiftly inform authorities and consumers," Blumenthal said in a release. "This information vanished six months ago, but Health Net is only now informing authorities and consumers, an inexcusable and inexplicable delay. Health Net's incomprehensible foot-dragging demonstrates shocking disregard for patients' financial security, as well as loss of their highly sensitive and confidential personal health information."

Blumenthal indicated that Health Net's delay in reporting this incident could be in violation of state and federal laws and he would pursue compensation for the victims and legal charges to the fullest extent possible. He also indicated that his office "will demand identity theft insurance and reimbursement for credit freezes as well as credit monitoring for at least two years" for all the customers affected.

The data was originally lost when a hard drive apparently "disappeared" from Health Net's facilities.  Blumenthal's release is available here.