Fallon Community Health Plan Data Security Incident

Fallon Community Health Plan responds to data security incident involving Medicare beneficiary member information

News Release as posted at http://www.fchp.org/Extranet/_News/Recent/

Laptop stolen from vendor offices; FCHP offers free credit monitoring service to affected members

Worcester, Mass., January 24, 2008—Fallon Community Health Plan (FCHP) announced today that it has alerted regulatory authorities about a data security incident involving members of its Fallon Senior Plan and its Summit ElderCare program. Letters to all affected members have been mailed notifying them of the situation and offering free credit monitoring for 12 months. The incident is related to a vendor’s laptop computer believed to contain Fallon Senior Plan and Summit ElderCare members’ personal information that was stolen from the offices of a third-party vendor FCHP had contracted with to assist with medical claims management.

“I deeply regret that this incident occurred. I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and trouble this theft may cause our members,” said Eric H. Schultz, President and CEO, FCHP. Schultz also said FCHP is working closely with law enforcement officials and the company’s legal counsel, Epstein, Becker and Green, to recover the laptop and the data it contained. “At this time, we have no reason to believe the data on the laptop was the target of this incident, but we are taking all of these steps out of an abundance of caution on behalf of our members,” Schultz added.

FCHP is offering free credit monitoring through Equifax to affected Fallon Senior Plan and Summit ElderCare members and has set up a dedicated, toll-free number for members to call with questions or for assistance with registration. Credit monitoring will alert members to any unusual activity in their financial accounts. Fallon Senior Plan and Summit ElderCare members or family members acting on their behalf can call FCHP at 1-866-757-2061 (TDD/TTY: 1-877-608-7677), Monday through Friday, 8 a.m.to 6 p.m.

The laptop computer in question is believed to contain personal information derived from claims data for approximately 29,800 Fallon Senior Plan and Summit ElderCare members, which represents 15% of FCHP’s total membership. The laptop did not contain personal information for any other Fallon Community Health Plan members.

For more information contact:

Bob Nolan
Senior Director
508-368-9430
robert.nolan@fchp.org

Christine Cassidy
Director
508-368-9502
christine.cassidy@fchp.org

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