Nebraska Attorney General warns consumers about healthcare data breach

The Nebraska Attorney General’s Office is issuing a consumer alert in connection with a data breach involving Change Healthcare, a subsidiary of United Health Group (“UHG”), and urging consumers to take steps to protect themselves from potential identity theft.

Change Healthcare has not yet notified Nebraska consumers of the data breach. The Nebraska Attorney General’s Office is concerned that a delay in notifying consumers will impact their ability to be proactive and protect themselves from further harm. The following information is intended to help consumers take proactive steps to protect their data.

What happened:

In February, a hacker gained access to Change Healthcare’s systems. The hacker used compromised credentials and launched a ransomware attack that encrypted insurance processing systems in Nebraska and much of the country. It is likely that many Nebraskans’ data was compromised, including protected health information (PHI) and personally identifiable information (PII), both of which can include identifiers such as names, phone numbers, email addresses, social security numbers, medical record numbers and payment information.

What you can do:

If you are affected or suspect you may be affected, you can take the following steps to protect yourself:

• Contact your credit or debit card company and request a replacement card for any payment methods you used at hospitals and other medical facilities.
• Check your bank and card statements and report any suspicious activity to the appropriate financial institutions.
• Request a credit freeze from Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. When your credit is frozen, no new lines of credit can be opened in your name without you temporarily lifting the freeze. All consumers, regardless of the impact, should consider a credit freeze to prevent credit fraud. A freeze should not prevent you from using your existing credit cards or other accounts, but it may slow down the opening of new lines of credit.

If you want to freeze your credit, you will need to contact all three major credit bureaus:

You can request a free credit report weekly at www.annualcreditreport.com or by calling toll-free 877-322-8228. It’s important to review reports carefully. Look for accounts you didn’t open, inquiries from creditors you didn’t initiate, and confirm that your personal information, such as your home address and Social Security number, is correct.

If you see something you don’t understand or recognize, call the credit reporting agency at the phone number on the report. You should file an identity theft affidavit online at www.identitytheft.gov. Keep a copy of the affidavit because you may need to give it to creditors to clean up your records or access transaction records.

Our office is dedicated to protecting Nebraska consumers and our health care providers. A consumer guide to preventing identity theft is available on the Nebraska Attorney General’s website: ProtectTheGoodLife.Nebraska.gov.