Health Share of Oregon Data Breach: What You Need to Know

Health Share of Oregon, the Beaver State’s biggest Medicaid coordinated care organization, incurred a data breach when a laptop was stolen from a vendor’s office in November. While stealing a laptop is not a tech-savvy breach, the repercussions could be the same as if data were hacked by cyberthieves offsite.

What is Health Share of Oregon?

Health Share of Oregon serves Medicaid members in Clackamas, Multnomah and Washington counties of Oregon. The state’s Medicaid program is called the Oregon Health Plan and consists of care through the Providence Health Assurance company for physical health needs. Each patient has a member ID card that includes the patient’s physical, dental and mental health providers’ information.

How Did the Data Breach Occur?

Healthshare of Oregon works with a contracted medical transportation company, GridWorks IC, that provides rides in non-emergency situations, such as for doctor’s appointments. According to ZDNet.com, someone broke into the GridWorks brick and mortar building and stole a laptop that contained personally identifiable information on thousands of patients.

The break-in took place on Nov. 18, 2019. The laptop contained names, addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, and Medicaid ID numbers. Even though no medical histories allegedly were stored on the laptop, the personal identifying information that was stolen could place members at risk of becoming victims of identity theft or some other type of fraudulent behavior.

Health Share of Oregon Data Breach: How Many People Were Affected?

The personal information of 654,362 patients could have been affected by the Healthshare of Oregon data breach. The company said that on Feb. 5, 2020, letters were mailed to patients who could have had their data compromised.

Authorities do not know if the laptop was stolen with the intent of accessing and using any information or if it was a crime of opportunity. There have been no reports that the data was discovered, used or sold.

What to Do if You Were a Victim

If you received a letter letting you know your information was among the data on the stolen laptop, Health Share is providing you with one year of free credit monitoring and identity restoration services.

The letter from Health Share also encouraged patients to monitor their financial statements closely and to contact the affiliated financial institution as soon as any suspicious or unauthorized activity is seen. Such incidents of suspected fraud should also be reported to the Federal Trade Commission, Oregon’s Office of the Attorney General or the local police department.

In addition to monitoring credit reports, Social Security benefits reports should be carefully observed, too.

Health Share said patients may want to place a fraud alert or security freeze on their credit files.

Finding a Data Breach Lawyer

According to a recent survey of nearly 3,000 IT workers, 96 percent agreed that compared with data security efforts at most medical centers, cyber thieves are ahead of the game.

If you see Health Share of Oregon providers and believe your personal information is at risk due to the data breach, you can help hold the medical organization accountable and may be able to receive compensation for your troubles and those of others affected. A data breach lawyer can help guide you through the steps to pursue legal action, such as a class action lawsuit.

Join a Free Health Share of Oregon Data Breach Class Action Lawsuit Investigation

If you were affected by the Health Share of Oregon data breach, you may be eligible to join a free class action lawsuit investigation into claims Health Share of Oregon failed to take steps to properly safeguard its members’ data.

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This article is not legal advice. It is presented
for informational purposes only.