Member Notice

May 24, 2022 – Anthem Blue Cross has learned of a data security incident that involved protected health information belonging to certain current and former members contained in the records of one of its legal services providers, Von Behren & Hunter LLP (“VBH”). On May 24, 2022,  potentially affected individuals were notified and provided resources to assist them.

On January 24, 2022, VBH became aware of unusual activity within its network and discovered that there had been unauthorized access to the environment. Upon discovering this activity, VBH took steps to secure its environment and initiate an initial investigation to evaluate the scope of the incident. On February 10, 2022, VBH confirmed that certain data was accessed and acquired without authorization during the incident. On April 11, 2022, notifications were mailed to this known affected population.

Following an in-depth and thorough review, on March 25, 2022, VBH determined that some information relating to current and former Anthem members may have been stored on the impacted server. This information may have included name, date of birth, ID number, Health insurance plan name, treatment facility, claim charges, date of service and provider name. A limited number of members have Social Security Numbers disclosed. While there is no evidence indicating that this information has been misused or that this information was even accessed or acquired without authorization, we are providing this notice out of an abundance of caution.

VBH has been in communication with the FBI and will fully cooperate with any investigation.

All Notification letters were sent to potentially affected individuals by May 24, 2022.  To ensure all those who are impacted are aware, we are also providing this notice as some did not have sufficient contact information to directly notify all potentially impacted individuals. VBH has established a toll-free call center to answer questions about the incident and to address related concerns. The call center can be reached at 1-833-940-2430 Monday through Friday, 9:00 am to 9:00 pm Pacific Time. In addition, as a precaution, VBH is offering complimentary identity protection services through IDX to those individuals who were potentially affected by the incident. To determine if you qualify for this service, you must obtain verification through the call center. If you qualify for this service, information on how to enroll will be made available to you.

The following information is provided to help individuals wanting more information about steps they can take to protect themselves:

What steps cans I take to protect my private information?

• If you detect suspicious activity on any of your accounts, you should promptly notify the financial institution or company with which the account is maintained. You should also report any fraudulent activity or any suspected incidents of identity theft to law enforcement.
   
• You may obtain a copy of your credit report at no cost from each of the three nationwide credit reporting agencies. To do so, visit www.annualcreditreport.com or call toll free at 1-877-322-8228. Contact information for the three agencies appears at the bottom of this page.
   
• Notify your financial institution immediately of any unauthorized transactions made, or new accounts opened, in your name.
   
• You can take steps recommended by the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) to protect yourself from identity theft. The FTC’s website offers helpful information at https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/topics/identity-theft.