Nov 9, 2009 2:10 pm US/Eastern
Conn. AG Investigates Insurer's Data Breach
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) ―
Connecticut's attorney general said Monday that he's investigating insurer Blue Cross Blue Shield's loss of confidential information about health care providers, which was on an employee's stolen laptop computer.
Richard Blumenthal said Monday that the company and its affiliates may have broken state law by losing the information and taking too long to notify doctors.
"We're waiting for the answers from Blue Cross," Blumenthal said.
The computer was stolen in Chicago in August, and at least 800,000 doctors nationwide were warned about possible identity theft last month. Blumenthal says nearly 19,000 providers in Connecticut may be affected.
The laptop didn't contain any patient information but included doctors' private data and some Social Security numbers.
Jeff Smokler, a spokesman for the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, said the company acted as quickly as it could to notify those who were affected by the breach.
"As soon as we discovered that the data was compromised we coordinated outreach with the various plans to notify providers," he said. "It took several weeks to gather all the information and find out who was impacted."
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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