PHOENIX — The Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System says thousands of Arizonans receiving Medicaid coverage may have been impacted by an information breach.
AHCCCS says they became aware of the breach on January 15, 2019.
“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,” they said in a statement.
The forms reportedly show an individual’s enrollment in a health plan. In this incident, the forms showed names and birth dates, but no social security numbers.
When they discovered the error, AHCCCS stopped all mailings until the issue could be corrected.
They say steps have been put in place to prevent future errors like this.
On March 11, AHCCCS notified those members whose health information was compromised.
AHCCCS says anyone concerned about their information can take the following steps:
- 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.
- 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.)
- 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.
