While health insurer Anthem has reported a massive data breach, Premera Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alaska said Thursday that its only members possibly at risk are those who received health care in any of a select number of states outside Alaska.
Anthem said in a letter on its website that hackers broke into its information technology systems and obtained information from current and former members including their names, birthdays, Social Security numbers and employment information, including income data. It did not appear that credit card or medical information was obtained, the company said. The database contained information for about 80 million of Anthem's customers and employees, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Anthem and Premera are both part of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association but operate on different systems, according to Melanie Coon, Premera's senior communications manager. Anthem would only process Alaskans' data if they received health care in Colorado, Nevada, Connecticut, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Missouri, New Hampshire, Ohio, Virginia, Wisconsin, California or New York.
Coon said Premera continued to work with Anthem and Blue Cross Blue Shield Thursday to analyze the scope of the cyberattack. The impacts on Alaskans remained unclear. Those affected by the breach will be offered free identity protection and credit monitoring services, she said.
"There's not a whole lot we can tell members right now," she said. "It may take a few weeks for Anthem to complete their analysis and identify all affected individuals."