The medical system is still a very controversial subject in the United States. Regardless of what side of the argument you’re on, when medical files go missing we can be pretty sure that we’re all on the same side. What I’m referring to is the fact that hard drives with 950,000 patient records missing from Centene medical insurer.
- Six hard drives with 950,000 patient records went missing from Centene
- Patients affected are those that got laboratory services from 2009 to 2015
- Centene promises free credit and healthcare to those affected by the potential theft
- The company had been using the patients’ data in an undisclosed project
- A Fortune 500 company, Centene focuses on government-sponsored healthcare programs for those under and uninsured
Centene announced the disappearance on Monday, the 25th of January, out of what they called an attempt at complete transparency and caution.
The health insurance company somehow misplaced the 6 hard drives, full of the personal and health information of somewhere around 950,000 people.
Currently, the company is undertaking an internal search, very thorough and comprehensive.
The six hard drives were found to be missing during an inventory of the company’s IT assets, even though the company CEO said that they were being used at the moment of disappearance.
Michael Neidorff, Centene CEO, said that the hard drives were used as part of an internal project, suing data from the laboratory results to improve the general health outcomes of all the company’s clients.
He also said that despite the fact that he doesn’t believe that the information will be used inappropriately, the company decided to come out with the leak in the hopes of getting information, and because of attempted public transparency.
The patients affected are getting free credit and health care from the company, but nothing was said about the possibility of not recovering the data, in which case there is somebody out there with the personal and medical information of 950,000 people.
Despite the files not containing any financial information, they still contained addresses, IDs, social security numbers, and even birthdays.
Centene promised instant review of their security policies, saying that nothing like this will happen in the future.
Currently being a leader in the industry, Centene is also planning on acquiring Health Net, will grant them an even bigger boost.
It is yet unknown how and if this will be affected by the loss of the hard drives.
Image source: Wikimedia
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