Anthem Was Hacked

[nylife11023]

@AllanChicago We're going to get single payer in our lifetime (at least mine!)

For the rest of the health agents out there, consider that 'y'all' might be held accountable, if you believe this segment:

5 reasons the Anthem hacking story should make YOU shiver | LifeHealthPro

1. For HIPAA privacy and data security purposes, you're probably a "business associate."

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), an arm of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), has created a 10-page packet to help organizations determine whether they are "covered entities" for HIPAA purposes.

Most health plans are covered entities, and CMS has been getting serious about applying HIPAA privacy rules to health plans.

Some companies that look like something other than health plans may be covered entities in some situations. In other situations, they and their affiliates may act as "business associates," or entities that use PHI and have to meet roughly the same privacy and data security requirements that health plans must meet.

In theory, a business associate that violated the HIPAA rules could face a civil penalty of up to $50,000 per violation. An associate found guilty of willful neglect and a failure to address a problem promptly could face a civil penalty of as much as $1.5 million per violation.

 

[AllenChicago]

@AllanChicago We're going to get single payer in our lifetime (at least mine!)

You sound pretty confident NYLife. However, there are lots of obstacles to overcome before Single Payer is reality here. But they have to start someplace, and discrediting the current system fits right into this administration's modus operandi.

 

[scagnt83]

Could you elaborate on that?

To the best of my knowledge neither social security, medicare, nor the IRS has ever been hacked.

Are you saying it is a FACT that most people feel safer with Target, Home Depot, Staples, Chase, and Anthem having their personal data as opposed to the agencies of the federal government as stated above... or is your statement above just your personal opinion, or perhaps a statement based on personal experience?

Here is a quote from the very article you linked to:

Officials with the Office of Inspector General at HHS reported in December 2013 that the OCR staff failed to comply with federal risk-management requirements for the three computer systems they used to do their own work.

So the people who are auditing health plans to ensure HIPPA compliance are not in proper compliance with protecting personal info themselves!

I am not all that old. But I have dealt with the government enough, and have heard enough first hand accounts, that I dont trust the gooberment with my info at all... I am just forced to.

If you dont believe me here is some more warm and fuzzy reading for you:
List of hacked government agencies grows: State Department, White House, NOAA & USPS | Computerworld

Hacks include State Department email. USPS had almost one million employee records hacked. The Coast Guard was hacked and records were stolen. NOAA was hacked and tried to cover it up. Do some googling and you will find plenty of stuff about government agencies being hacked and personal data stolen. Half of the state of SC had personal data stolen a few years ago because of a hack into the SCDOR, including me.

 

[AllenChicago]

Looks like they're trying to cash in with their stolen data.
Fraud worries force TurboTax to halt state filings | Fox News

 

[scagnt83]

Scammers are already working the victims:
Anthem victims' first hack symptom: Phishing scams

 

[nylife11023]

You sound pretty confident NYLife. However, there are lots of obstacles to overcome before Single Payer is reality here. But they have to start someplace, and discrediting the current system fits right into this administration's modus operandi.

This is probably generational.

Those who are older and especially those who make a living from health insurance companies are indeed going to be defensive and even admiring of them.

Those (of us?) who are young(er) see companies like Anthem much like Enron, Chase, Goldman, big drug companies, cable TV companies and the oil companies who do what they can to screw their customers.

When you get an adverse decision (i.e. a 'screwing') from the government... say the IRS or Veterans Affairs or the DMV there are policies and procedures built into the system for redress and you don't have to be wealthy to partake of them. (Having been though the process with the IRS I know what I'm talking about.) And if that does not work there are elected officials you can appeal to for a 'redress'

When you are screwed by an Anthem or any large entity where do you go to get it fixed?

I don't know for certain if the (any) government has my best interest at heart, but I know for a fact that my health insurance company doesn't. And I would venture an uneducated guess that there is at least a small majority who would agree with me... but obviously none here... nor in the insurance industry, that is for sure.

Let's say you are right and that this is a covert action on behalf of the administration to sow FUD in the health insurance sector, you and I know that it will never be proven... and will just be another in a long line of anti-government conspiracy theories. But it may result in a 'political uprising' of health insurance premium payers that might just lead to the acceleration of single payer and we both know that in politics the ends most often do justify the means... for better or worse.

 

[somarco]

The hacker must have spent a fair amount of time roaming around in their system. Trying to find what you want then downloading 80M records from multiple databases. This hacker owned Anthem for weeks, maybe months. No way of knowing when they got in and how many times they came back. Seems apparent Anthem is not monitoring incoming traffic. Data hacks like this usually occur in the middle of the night. Absolutely no reason for an Anthem employee to be on the site from midnight to 5AM downloading a jillion bytes of data.

 

[houcoogster]

It was probably just a mailing list company adding some new folks to their data base.

Over 50% of those identities aren't worth stealing anyway....

 

[Lakshmi]

Perhaps a black-operation within the US Government hacked Anthem. Would give Obama's people more "We need Single Payer" leverage at the upcoming Congressional hearings into this unprecedented breach.

This was my first thought...

 

[somarco]

It's the North Koreans retaliating for that movie.