The American Association for Justice is facing a class-action lawsuit claiming it violated federal law when it sent faxes marketing health insurance without a notice…
Reported by ABA Journal 20 seconds ago.
Trial lawyers group is sued for alleged junk-fax violation; US Chamber calls attention to suit
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In Raleigh, 60,182 sign up for Obamacare coverage
In Raleigh, 60,182 people have health insurance coverage through Affordable Care Act Marketplace plans. That represents about 13 percent of the 479,748 in North Carolina who selected plans, according to new data released from the Obama Administration on Friday. Nationwide, nearly 7.5 million consumers selected a plan or were automatically re-enrolled through the HealthCare.gov platform as of Jan. 30. These are the health insurance plans offered by private insurers through the online marketplaces…
Reported by bizjournals 22 hours ago.
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Silicon Valley had its own version of the Oscars last night — here's what it was like
Last night we attended the 8th annual Crunchies, an awards show in San Francisco sponsored by tech blogs TechCrunch and VentureBeat.It's kind of like the Oscars for tech companies — everybody gets dressed up and tries to get close to local tech celebrities, while startups compete for awards like "Fastest-Rising Startup" and "VC Of The Year."
Like most awards shows, the Crunchies is about seeing and being seen as much as the awards themselves.
-The Crunchies was at Davies symphony hall in downtown San Francisco. It's known for amazing acoustics.--There were plenty of protestors outside. These people were dressed up like pigs to make a point about wealth in Silicon Valley.--There were also protestors picketing the event. Most of them were angry about Uber not providing health insurance to its drivers.-
See the rest of the story at Business Insider Reported by Business Insider 23 hours ago.
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AmeriLife Agent Helps Client Navigate ACA
President Obama Invites Client to White House
Clearwater, FL (PRWEB) February 06, 2015
A 63-year-old Georgia woman searching for health insurance was so pleased with the insurance coverage she got through the federal Affordable Care Act (ACA) she wrote a “thank you” note to the president of the United States.
President Barak Obama, in turn, invited her to stop by his house in Washington for a face-to-face meeting.
After Naomi Davis returned from her February 3 trip to the White House, she was the center of attention of the Macon, GA-area media. Mrs. Davis had her trusted insurance agent, Laura Hemenway, at her side as she was interviewed by television and newspaper reporters.
Ms. Hemenway, a licensed agent with AmeriLife® & Health Services of Central Georgia, helped Mrs. Davis with the online process of getting health insurance through the ACA. A long-time medical condition worsened and required treatment, but Mrs. Davis was uninsured. With the assistance of agent Hemenway, Mrs. Davis enrolled in the ACA. Ms. Hemenway was able to help the farmer qualify for federal subsidies, lessening the financial impact on the widow.
The resulting insurance coverage and physician visits prompted the widowed farmer to write the president.
Ms. Hemenway, a licensed agent since March 2011, was familiar with the complexities and requirements of the federal health insurance program and – at no charge to Mrs. Davis – helped the farmer navigate the online enrollment for the ACA.
“This is one of the rewards of having hundreds of agents who are familiar with the requirements for all types of life and health insurance,” said Robert Barry, vice president of AmeriLife Career Agencies. “AmeriLife casts a long shadow throughout the southeastern United States, and we’ve been able to help hundreds of clients like Mrs. Davis with their insurance needs.”
AmeriLife & Health Services is part of AmeriLife® group, the premier insurance marketing group in the United States.
For additional information about Ms. Hemenway or AmeriLife, please contact AmeriLife Marketing Communications at Media(at)AmeriLife(dot)com. Reported by PRWeb 22 hours ago.
Clearwater, FL (PRWEB) February 06, 2015
A 63-year-old Georgia woman searching for health insurance was so pleased with the insurance coverage she got through the federal Affordable Care Act (ACA) she wrote a “thank you” note to the president of the United States.
President Barak Obama, in turn, invited her to stop by his house in Washington for a face-to-face meeting.
After Naomi Davis returned from her February 3 trip to the White House, she was the center of attention of the Macon, GA-area media. Mrs. Davis had her trusted insurance agent, Laura Hemenway, at her side as she was interviewed by television and newspaper reporters.
Ms. Hemenway, a licensed agent with AmeriLife® & Health Services of Central Georgia, helped Mrs. Davis with the online process of getting health insurance through the ACA. A long-time medical condition worsened and required treatment, but Mrs. Davis was uninsured. With the assistance of agent Hemenway, Mrs. Davis enrolled in the ACA. Ms. Hemenway was able to help the farmer qualify for federal subsidies, lessening the financial impact on the widow.
The resulting insurance coverage and physician visits prompted the widowed farmer to write the president.
Ms. Hemenway, a licensed agent since March 2011, was familiar with the complexities and requirements of the federal health insurance program and – at no charge to Mrs. Davis – helped the farmer navigate the online enrollment for the ACA.
“This is one of the rewards of having hundreds of agents who are familiar with the requirements for all types of life and health insurance,” said Robert Barry, vice president of AmeriLife Career Agencies. “AmeriLife casts a long shadow throughout the southeastern United States, and we’ve been able to help hundreds of clients like Mrs. Davis with their insurance needs.”
AmeriLife & Health Services is part of AmeriLife® group, the premier insurance marketing group in the United States.
For additional information about Ms. Hemenway or AmeriLife, please contact AmeriLife Marketing Communications at Media(at)AmeriLife(dot)com. Reported by PRWeb 22 hours ago.
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Only Days from the February 15th Enrollment Deadline, Chariot Health and Get Covered America Partner to Help Philadelphians Sign-Up for Health Coverage
Enrollment Assisters On-Site for Winter Health and Resource Fair at the Gallery at Market East Saturday. Consumers Can Sign-Up for New Insurance or Make Changes to Existing Plans.
PHILADELPHIA, PA (PRWEB) February 06, 2015
Only days remain to sign-up for health coverage for 2015. The deadline for Open Enrollment is February 15th.
Chariot Health, Get Covered America and Enroll America are sponsoring the final Health Insurance Enrollment Drive and Winter Health Resource Fair at the Gallery at Market East from 11:00AM to 6:00PM on Saturday, February 7th.
“Philadelphian’s have an opportunity to meet with enrollment assisters who will explain their options and help them sign-up for affordable quality health coverage before the deadline on February 15th,” stated John Henry, Chairman and CEO of Chariot Companies.
According to http://www.healthcare.gov, February 15, 2015, Open Enrollment ends. Enroll by this date and coverage can begin as soon as March 1. After this date, you can enroll in or change plans for 2015 only if you qualify for a Special Enrollment Period.
“Health insurance is a basic necessity and we’re fortunate to partner with Get Covered America and Enroll America to help the uninsured and underinsured citizens of Philadelphia get the coverage they need for themselves and their families,” noted Henry.
Consumers are asked to bring:· Social Security or Immigration Document Number for each person in the household
· Date of Birth for each person in the household
· Employer information and tax documents for each person in the household (W-2 and other tax forms)
· Identification
The all-day event will take place at The Gallery, 11th and Market, in the Rotunda on the Lower Level, Jefferson/Market East Station - enter next to Hard Rock Café then go downstairs. Stationed on site to serve Philadelphians are Enroll America, Chariot Companies, Cognosante, The City of Philadelphia, PECO, CLARIFI, and YO ACAP. You can RSVP to the event by emailing jcusick(at)enrollamerica(dot)org or by calling 267-514-5272.
Additional counselors will be on-site to provide the following services: financial counseling, dressing for job interviews, LIURP (Low Income Usage Reduction Programs), health screenings and screenings for supplemental nutrition assistance program.
The event will be open to press, who will have the opportunity to talk to Philadelphia health insurance consumers, enrollment assisters and representatives from Enroll America. Similar events in December and January drew several hundred consumers.
About Chariot Health
Chariot Health provides high quality star-rated medical insurance, Medicare and other products in 20 states across the U.S. Chariot Health offers a community benefit component in which 20 percent of net profits directly assist low-wealth seniors and children. Visit http://www.chariothealthcare.com for more information.
About Get Covered America and Enroll America
Get Covered America is a national campaign of Enroll America that is focused on educating consumers about the benefits of health coverage and the new health insurance available under the Affordable Care Act. With operations in 11 states (AZ, FL, GA, IL, MI, NC, NJ, OH, PA, TN, and TX), our grassroots team is powered by passionate staff and volunteers with one motivating goal: to give Americans the information they need to choose an affordable health insurance plan that’s right for them and their families.
Enroll America is the nation's leading health care enrollment coalition, bringing together community and health organizations, businesses and others to inform consumers about the new health coverage options and how to enroll in them. It is an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization focused on one goal: maximizing the number of Americans who enroll in and retain health coverage. Reported by PRWeb 22 hours ago.
PHILADELPHIA, PA (PRWEB) February 06, 2015
Only days remain to sign-up for health coverage for 2015. The deadline for Open Enrollment is February 15th.
Chariot Health, Get Covered America and Enroll America are sponsoring the final Health Insurance Enrollment Drive and Winter Health Resource Fair at the Gallery at Market East from 11:00AM to 6:00PM on Saturday, February 7th.
“Philadelphian’s have an opportunity to meet with enrollment assisters who will explain their options and help them sign-up for affordable quality health coverage before the deadline on February 15th,” stated John Henry, Chairman and CEO of Chariot Companies.
According to http://www.healthcare.gov, February 15, 2015, Open Enrollment ends. Enroll by this date and coverage can begin as soon as March 1. After this date, you can enroll in or change plans for 2015 only if you qualify for a Special Enrollment Period.
“Health insurance is a basic necessity and we’re fortunate to partner with Get Covered America and Enroll America to help the uninsured and underinsured citizens of Philadelphia get the coverage they need for themselves and their families,” noted Henry.
Consumers are asked to bring:· Social Security or Immigration Document Number for each person in the household
· Date of Birth for each person in the household
· Employer information and tax documents for each person in the household (W-2 and other tax forms)
· Identification
The all-day event will take place at The Gallery, 11th and Market, in the Rotunda on the Lower Level, Jefferson/Market East Station - enter next to Hard Rock Café then go downstairs. Stationed on site to serve Philadelphians are Enroll America, Chariot Companies, Cognosante, The City of Philadelphia, PECO, CLARIFI, and YO ACAP. You can RSVP to the event by emailing jcusick(at)enrollamerica(dot)org or by calling 267-514-5272.
Additional counselors will be on-site to provide the following services: financial counseling, dressing for job interviews, LIURP (Low Income Usage Reduction Programs), health screenings and screenings for supplemental nutrition assistance program.
The event will be open to press, who will have the opportunity to talk to Philadelphia health insurance consumers, enrollment assisters and representatives from Enroll America. Similar events in December and January drew several hundred consumers.
About Chariot Health
Chariot Health provides high quality star-rated medical insurance, Medicare and other products in 20 states across the U.S. Chariot Health offers a community benefit component in which 20 percent of net profits directly assist low-wealth seniors and children. Visit http://www.chariothealthcare.com for more information.
About Get Covered America and Enroll America
Get Covered America is a national campaign of Enroll America that is focused on educating consumers about the benefits of health coverage and the new health insurance available under the Affordable Care Act. With operations in 11 states (AZ, FL, GA, IL, MI, NC, NJ, OH, PA, TN, and TX), our grassroots team is powered by passionate staff and volunteers with one motivating goal: to give Americans the information they need to choose an affordable health insurance plan that’s right for them and their families.
Enroll America is the nation's leading health care enrollment coalition, bringing together community and health organizations, businesses and others to inform consumers about the new health coverage options and how to enroll in them. It is an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization focused on one goal: maximizing the number of Americans who enroll in and retain health coverage. Reported by PRWeb 22 hours ago.
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PAML Adds New Functionality to Cinch™
SPOKANE, Wash., Feb. 6, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- For consumers who are uninsured, under-insured, or have health insurance with high yearly deductibles, PAML's direct access laboratory testing service, Cinch, has helped these individuals keep a close eye on their health and save money....
Reported by PR Newswire 22 hours ago.
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Close to 500,000 N.C. residents have signed up for Obamacare coverage
In the Greensboro-High Point area, 38,746 people have signed up for health insurance coverage through Affordable Care Act Marketplace plans. That represents about 8 percent of the 479,748 in North Carolina who selected plans coming up on the Feb. 15 end of enrollment, according to new data released from the Obama Administration on Friday. Nationwide, nearly 7.5 million consumers selected a plan or were automatically re-enrolled through the HealthCare.gov platform as of Jan. 30. These are the health…
Reported by bizjournals 22 hours ago.
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With Open Enrollment Period Ending February 15, Freeway Insurance Hosts Events to Offer Consumers Free Help with Signing Up for Health Insurance
HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Freeway Insurance is hosting free health coverage enrollment events to assist customers seeking to enroll in a health insurance plan by the February 15 deadline.
Reported by Business Wire 21 hours ago.
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Anthem Hack Exposes 80 Million Individuals: How to Protect Yourself
By Jocelyn Baird, NextAdvisor.com
Health insurance provider Anthem announced late Wednesday, Feb. 4 that it had experienced a massive security breach which exposed the information of up to 80 million of its current and former customers, as well as employees. A letter sent to customers by email and posted on the Anthem website from company president and CEO Joseph R. Swedish informed of a "very sophisticated external cyber attack" in which hackers gained access to the Anthem IT system. Although initially there were no known suspects or motive, new information within the investigation has pointed toward Chinese state-sponsored hackers as the perpetrators, according to Bloomberg Business. President Obama's cybersecurity adviser Michael Daniel called the attack "quite concerning" during a Bloomberg Business seminar on Feb. 5.
What Anthem customer information was exposed?
The investigation by Anthem, the FBI and cybersecurity firm Mandiant has determined that information of customers -- both current and former -- as well as employees was exposed during this attack. The information compromised includes *names, birth dates, medical ID numbers, social security numbers, home addresses, email addresses and employment information (including income). *At this time, there is no reason for Anthem to believe credit card or medical information, such as claims or test results, were targeted or stolen. However, the sheer volume of information that was accessed is incredible.
According to the company's website, this Anthem hack extends across all of its businesses -- including Anthem Blue Cross, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia, Empire Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Amerigroup, Caremore, Unicare, Healthlink and DeCare.What is the response to this Anthem hack?
According to the letter from Swedish, as soon as the attack was discovered, the company began working internally to close the breach and contacted the FBI to investigate what happened and how. Anthem has also retained Mandiant, a private cybersecurity firm, to help assess and improve its current systems. Customers were notified immediately by email, and Anthem also set up a website -- www.anthemfacts.com -- that people can visit to get up-to-date information on the investigation. Once it has determined which customers were exposed, Anthem will be sending letters by postal mail with more information -- including how they can sign up for free credit report monitoring and identity theft protection service.
As of yet, Anthem has not said which service it will be offering credit monitoring and identity theft protection through. In addition to the website, Anthem has set up a toll-free phone number you can call for more information. When this number is called, customers will hear a recording with information about the attack and have the option to speak with an Anthem representative if they have any questions.
I'm an Anthem customer; what can I do to protect myself?
Although the company's response has been swift and proactive, the sad fact is that if you are an Anthem customer your information is potentially already in the hands of criminals. Here are some steps you can take to protect your identity in the coming weeks:
*1. Sign up for identity theft protection on your own. *While it's nice that Anthem will be offering affected customers free credit report monitoring and identity theft protection, often the plans offered after data breaches don't measure up. Because so much information was exposed in this attack, you are going to want an all-inclusive identity theft protection service that offers regular credit reports, Internet black market monitoring and identity theft assistance. Our top-rated service, Identity Guard, offers all of this for the reasonable monthly price of $14.99. Since many insurance plans cover the whole family, many parents will be scrambling to protect their children's identities as well as their own. TrustedID offers a cost-effective family plan that covers all family members living at the same address for just $18/month with an annual plan.
Both services offer a free trial -- 30 days for Identity Guard and 14 days for TrustedID -- so if you aren't sure whether you'll want or need it, you can sign up now and cancel later. Depending on how quickly Anthem rolls out its free service, you can even sign up for both and compare. Canceling within the trial period will ensure you don't pay a thing, while keeping your identity protected.
*2. Be suspicious of strange phone calls, letters and emails. *Although phone numbers were not listed among the data exposed, it's good to cover all of your bases. Be on the lookout for calls, letters and emails that claim to be from Anthem which ask you to provide your personal data to prove your identity. Anthem has already sent emails to customers and has said it will be sending those affected a letter by mail. It is unlikely that any legitimate correspondence from Anthem will ask you to divulge sensitive information or give them money. If you receive an email urging you to click a link or log onto your health insurance account, do not click the link. Instead, visit the website in a separate browser window and log in that way to check for any alerts that have been sent to your account. Similarly, regard any phone calls with suspicion -- it's best to find out what the caller wants, hang up and call the customer service number on the back of your insurance card to determine if the call is legitimate.
*3. Shred your junk mail and documents before throwing them out. *Any time your home address is exposed, you are at risk. Identity thieves are not above digging through your trash to find discarded credit card offers or other old mail and documents they can use to exploit your identity for their own gain. Ripping up old mail yourself simply won't cut it -- the best option is to invest in a cross-cut shredder, which will completely destroy documents so they cannot be pieced back together.
*4. Protect your medical identity. *We all know the dangers of having our credit cards and banking information stolen, but do you know the dangers of medical identity theft? Because medical ID numbers and social security numbers were exposed in this attack, you should be on the lookout for suspicious medical bills for procedures or treatments you did not receive. It is also a wise idea to carefully read any and all statements you receive from your insurance provider, especially considering in this case it is your insurance provider that has been hacked.
Anytime a company as large as Anthem is breached, the repercussions are felt long after. To learn more about how to protect your identity and continue following this story, visit our identity theft protection blog.
This blog post originally appeared on NextAdvisor.com. Reported by Huffington Post 20 hours ago.
Health insurance provider Anthem announced late Wednesday, Feb. 4 that it had experienced a massive security breach which exposed the information of up to 80 million of its current and former customers, as well as employees. A letter sent to customers by email and posted on the Anthem website from company president and CEO Joseph R. Swedish informed of a "very sophisticated external cyber attack" in which hackers gained access to the Anthem IT system. Although initially there were no known suspects or motive, new information within the investigation has pointed toward Chinese state-sponsored hackers as the perpetrators, according to Bloomberg Business. President Obama's cybersecurity adviser Michael Daniel called the attack "quite concerning" during a Bloomberg Business seminar on Feb. 5.
What Anthem customer information was exposed?
The investigation by Anthem, the FBI and cybersecurity firm Mandiant has determined that information of customers -- both current and former -- as well as employees was exposed during this attack. The information compromised includes *names, birth dates, medical ID numbers, social security numbers, home addresses, email addresses and employment information (including income). *At this time, there is no reason for Anthem to believe credit card or medical information, such as claims or test results, were targeted or stolen. However, the sheer volume of information that was accessed is incredible.
According to the company's website, this Anthem hack extends across all of its businesses -- including Anthem Blue Cross, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia, Empire Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Amerigroup, Caremore, Unicare, Healthlink and DeCare.What is the response to this Anthem hack?
According to the letter from Swedish, as soon as the attack was discovered, the company began working internally to close the breach and contacted the FBI to investigate what happened and how. Anthem has also retained Mandiant, a private cybersecurity firm, to help assess and improve its current systems. Customers were notified immediately by email, and Anthem also set up a website -- www.anthemfacts.com -- that people can visit to get up-to-date information on the investigation. Once it has determined which customers were exposed, Anthem will be sending letters by postal mail with more information -- including how they can sign up for free credit report monitoring and identity theft protection service.
As of yet, Anthem has not said which service it will be offering credit monitoring and identity theft protection through. In addition to the website, Anthem has set up a toll-free phone number you can call for more information. When this number is called, customers will hear a recording with information about the attack and have the option to speak with an Anthem representative if they have any questions.
I'm an Anthem customer; what can I do to protect myself?
Although the company's response has been swift and proactive, the sad fact is that if you are an Anthem customer your information is potentially already in the hands of criminals. Here are some steps you can take to protect your identity in the coming weeks:
*1. Sign up for identity theft protection on your own. *While it's nice that Anthem will be offering affected customers free credit report monitoring and identity theft protection, often the plans offered after data breaches don't measure up. Because so much information was exposed in this attack, you are going to want an all-inclusive identity theft protection service that offers regular credit reports, Internet black market monitoring and identity theft assistance. Our top-rated service, Identity Guard, offers all of this for the reasonable monthly price of $14.99. Since many insurance plans cover the whole family, many parents will be scrambling to protect their children's identities as well as their own. TrustedID offers a cost-effective family plan that covers all family members living at the same address for just $18/month with an annual plan.
Both services offer a free trial -- 30 days for Identity Guard and 14 days for TrustedID -- so if you aren't sure whether you'll want or need it, you can sign up now and cancel later. Depending on how quickly Anthem rolls out its free service, you can even sign up for both and compare. Canceling within the trial period will ensure you don't pay a thing, while keeping your identity protected.
*2. Be suspicious of strange phone calls, letters and emails. *Although phone numbers were not listed among the data exposed, it's good to cover all of your bases. Be on the lookout for calls, letters and emails that claim to be from Anthem which ask you to provide your personal data to prove your identity. Anthem has already sent emails to customers and has said it will be sending those affected a letter by mail. It is unlikely that any legitimate correspondence from Anthem will ask you to divulge sensitive information or give them money. If you receive an email urging you to click a link or log onto your health insurance account, do not click the link. Instead, visit the website in a separate browser window and log in that way to check for any alerts that have been sent to your account. Similarly, regard any phone calls with suspicion -- it's best to find out what the caller wants, hang up and call the customer service number on the back of your insurance card to determine if the call is legitimate.
*3. Shred your junk mail and documents before throwing them out. *Any time your home address is exposed, you are at risk. Identity thieves are not above digging through your trash to find discarded credit card offers or other old mail and documents they can use to exploit your identity for their own gain. Ripping up old mail yourself simply won't cut it -- the best option is to invest in a cross-cut shredder, which will completely destroy documents so they cannot be pieced back together.
*4. Protect your medical identity. *We all know the dangers of having our credit cards and banking information stolen, but do you know the dangers of medical identity theft? Because medical ID numbers and social security numbers were exposed in this attack, you should be on the lookout for suspicious medical bills for procedures or treatments you did not receive. It is also a wise idea to carefully read any and all statements you receive from your insurance provider, especially considering in this case it is your insurance provider that has been hacked.
Anytime a company as large as Anthem is breached, the repercussions are felt long after. To learn more about how to protect your identity and continue following this story, visit our identity theft protection blog.
This blog post originally appeared on NextAdvisor.com. Reported by Huffington Post 20 hours ago.
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Citing fraud, TurboTax halts e-filing of state tax returns
TurboTax has taken the unprecedented step of halting users’ ability to use its tax-preparation software to file state income tax returns electronically while it investigates fraudulent activity. Intuit, the maker of TurboTax, and some states “have seen an increase in suspicious filings and attempts by criminals to use stolen identity information to file fraudulent state tax returns and claim tax refunds,” the Mountain View company said in a press release. The fraud is typically uncovered when taxpayers log into TurboTax to file their state-tax returns and discover a return has already been filed in their name, the Minnesota Department of Revenue said in a press release. Intuit said a preliminary investigation with the help of outside security companies Palantir of Palo Alto and Mandiant, a division of FireEye in Milpitas, revealed that TurboTax’s systems were not breached and that the information used to file fraudulent returns was obtained from other sources outside the tax preparation process. Miller pointed out that on Wednesday, health insurance provider Anthem announced a breach that could affect as many as 80 million of its current and former customers. Intuit said it will also provide identity protection services and free credit monitoring, as well as access to all versions of its software or to the assistance of one of Intuit’s credentialed tax experts, who will prepare taxes for affected customers at no expense.
Reported by SFGate 20 hours ago.
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What to do if your information has been hacked
Hackers have stolen personal information from tens of millions of people with Anthem health insurance. The nation’s second-largest health insurer, formerly known as WellPoint, said hackers stole Social Security numbers, names, birthdates, e-mail addresses, employment details, incomes and street addresses of people who are currently covered or had coverage in the past. The company is also warning about scam e-mails being sent to people it insures or has insured in the past. Anthem is telling people not to click on any links in suspicious e-mails, not to open attachments or reply to the e-mails. Anthem said there’s no indication that the scam e-mails are being sent by the people involved in the hack, or that the information obtained in the cyberattack is being used by the scam artists. First things first (Each reporting agency is supposed to notify the others, but you may want to contact all three.) The alert tells businesses to contact you before opening accounts in your name. [...] you should weigh that against the hassle of notifying credit agencies to lift the freeze — which can take a few days — every time you apply for a loan, open an account or even sign up for utility service. Get a free credit report once a year from at least one of the major reporting agencies, and review it for unauthorized accounts. Contact the credit issuer to dispute fraudulent charges and have the bogus account closed. Request your credit report and ask the reporting agencies to remove bogus accounts or any incorrect information from your record.
Reported by SFGate 19 hours ago.
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Hackers target health care as industry goes digital
With more health providers and insurers incorporating IT into clinical care, hackers are viewing the health care industry as their next target.
“Cybercriminals know that the health industry is moving into EHRs and there’s more data to steal,” said Ann Peterson, program director at the Medical Identity Fraud Alliance, an organization that works to reduce medical fraud.
Electronic health records, or EHRs, are increasingly being used by hospitals and doctors’ offices to store information such as test results and treatment plans, along with data such as patient names, Social Security numbers and birth dates.
Health insurance companies also use EHRs and store other personal data, such as credit card details, making them attractive targets for hackers. This week, Anthem, one of the largest health insurers in the U.S., said sensitive information on possibly 80 million employees and customers had been exposed during a cyberattack. The information thieves made off with included patient names, Social Security numbers, birth dates and medical identification numbers.
To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here Reported by PC World 18 hours ago.
“Cybercriminals know that the health industry is moving into EHRs and there’s more data to steal,” said Ann Peterson, program director at the Medical Identity Fraud Alliance, an organization that works to reduce medical fraud.
Electronic health records, or EHRs, are increasingly being used by hospitals and doctors’ offices to store information such as test results and treatment plans, along with data such as patient names, Social Security numbers and birth dates.
Health insurance companies also use EHRs and store other personal data, such as credit card details, making them attractive targets for hackers. This week, Anthem, one of the largest health insurers in the U.S., said sensitive information on possibly 80 million employees and customers had been exposed during a cyberattack. The information thieves made off with included patient names, Social Security numbers, birth dates and medical identification numbers.
To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here Reported by PC World 18 hours ago.
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Don't miss the Feb. 15 Affordable Care Act deadline
Health care advocates are turning to parties and pampering to attract new enrollees to sign up for health insurance coverage in the Affordable Care Act marketplace, http://www.healthcare.gov. The most recent numbers released by the federal government show that more than 9 million have signed up...
Reported by dailypress.com 17 hours ago.
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Push for Progress: Children Cannot Wait
“We are guilty of many errors and many faults, but our worst crime is abandoning the children, neglecting the fountain of life. Many of the things we need can wait. The child cannot. Right now is the time his bones are being formed, his blood is being made, and his senses are being developed. To him we cannot answer ‘Tomorrow.’ His name is today.”
-- Nobel Laureate Gabriela Mistral
The President’s budget released this week proposes billions in critical new federal investments for 2016 and beyond to improve the life chances of millions of poor children. It also would prevent more harmful budget cuts in cost effective child investments while providing essential new investments to decrease the morally indefensible number of poor children (14.7 million, 6.5 million of them extremely poor) desperately in need of hope and help.
So many children have lost ground as the trumped-up fear of excessive debt children did not cause has been used by some in Congress to cut safety net programs we know work. For example, the indiscriminate and unjust sequestration guillotine cut 57,000 children from Head Start and 100,000 low-income households from critical rent assistance. Yet Congress did nothing to curb hugely unfair tax loopholes disproportionately benefitting powerful and wealthy corporations and individuals while starving federal programs millions of poor children depend on to survive. Members of Congress in both parties must now join the President to help our nation move forward by protecting and investing in America’s neediest children and future.
The President’s budget proposal includes major increased investments in the critical early childhood years of rapid brain development which help prevent poverty. The most significant of the President’s new child investments would add $80 billion over 10 years for the Child Care and Development Fund to guarantee child care assistance to all low-income working parents with children under 4. Currently only 1 in 4 eligible children under 5 receives this crucial assistance. New investments in voluntary home visiting, Early Head Start/Child Care Partnerships, Head Start, and Pre-School for All grants (totalling $75 billion over 10 years) for low income 4-year-olds will all bolster child readiness for school. It is hard to find a better investment. Society reaps an $8 return for each dollar invested in high-quality early childhood programs and we cannot afford not to help children and decrease current and future costs. Members of Congress on all sides of the political aisle should put politics aside and build on the important 2014 bipartisan reauthorization of the Child Care and Development Block Grant to help ensure states implement the quality improvements that legislation requires and enable more children to benefit.
There’s much other good news for children in the President’s budget which all Americans and all members of Congress should strongly support:
· Four more years of funding for the successful bipartisan Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) to ensure 8 million children in working families will continue to have access to high-quality, affordable, and effective child health coverage. If Congress takes no action, CHIP funding will run out this fall.· A $1 billion boost for Title I education funding for poor children – a critical program children living in areas of concentrated poverty desperately need. Title I must include strong accountability measures to make sure poor and vulnerable children truly benefit.· Funding to make permanent key improvements in the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and the Child Tax Credit (CTC) scheduled to expire at the end of 2017. These two tax credits lifted 5 million children out of poverty in 2013. Making these improvements permanent would prevent one million children falling into poverty and 6.7 million falling deeper into poverty.· New help for abused and neglected children and children in foster care including $1.4 billion over 10 years in new guaranteed funding for preventive services to help keep children safely in families and out of costlier foster care, promote family-based care for children with behavioral and mental health needs, and help American Indian children removed from families remain in their communities.· An additional $1.8 billion for rental assistance for low-income families and youths aging out of foster care, including $512 million for restoring 67,000 housing choice vouchers lost from sequestration.
The President’s forward looking budget pays for his critical proposed new investments to alleviate child poverty and reverse harmful unjust cuts by eliminating egregious tax loopholes benefitting powerful corporations and the super-wealthy and other spending inefficiencies. Additionally, the President’s balanced approach would generate more than $1 trillion in deficit reduction over the next decade according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. However, his laudable increased child investments still would not recoup lost funding for non-defense, non-entitlement programs which would still remain 15 percent below 2010 levels adjusting for inflation and population growth.
As Congress considers budget legislation in the coming weeks, I hope they will stop hurting and start helping our most vulnerable children. The President’s proposed new measures are giant steps towards cutting child poverty. The Children’s Defense Fund’s recent report Ending Child Poverty Now shows we can cut child poverty 60 percent – and Black child poverty 72 percent – immediately by investing just 2 percent more of the federal budget in existing programs that work including the EITC, the CTC, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), housing subsidies, child care subsidies, and subsidized jobs.
Children really do have only one childhood and it is right now. Protecting precious child lives and America’s future demands that we act immediately and move forward and not backwards. Let’s stand up to those who hurt children and dim America’s dream of becoming a just society for all. Reported by Huffington Post 16 hours ago.
-- Nobel Laureate Gabriela Mistral
The President’s budget released this week proposes billions in critical new federal investments for 2016 and beyond to improve the life chances of millions of poor children. It also would prevent more harmful budget cuts in cost effective child investments while providing essential new investments to decrease the morally indefensible number of poor children (14.7 million, 6.5 million of them extremely poor) desperately in need of hope and help.
So many children have lost ground as the trumped-up fear of excessive debt children did not cause has been used by some in Congress to cut safety net programs we know work. For example, the indiscriminate and unjust sequestration guillotine cut 57,000 children from Head Start and 100,000 low-income households from critical rent assistance. Yet Congress did nothing to curb hugely unfair tax loopholes disproportionately benefitting powerful and wealthy corporations and individuals while starving federal programs millions of poor children depend on to survive. Members of Congress in both parties must now join the President to help our nation move forward by protecting and investing in America’s neediest children and future.
The President’s budget proposal includes major increased investments in the critical early childhood years of rapid brain development which help prevent poverty. The most significant of the President’s new child investments would add $80 billion over 10 years for the Child Care and Development Fund to guarantee child care assistance to all low-income working parents with children under 4. Currently only 1 in 4 eligible children under 5 receives this crucial assistance. New investments in voluntary home visiting, Early Head Start/Child Care Partnerships, Head Start, and Pre-School for All grants (totalling $75 billion over 10 years) for low income 4-year-olds will all bolster child readiness for school. It is hard to find a better investment. Society reaps an $8 return for each dollar invested in high-quality early childhood programs and we cannot afford not to help children and decrease current and future costs. Members of Congress on all sides of the political aisle should put politics aside and build on the important 2014 bipartisan reauthorization of the Child Care and Development Block Grant to help ensure states implement the quality improvements that legislation requires and enable more children to benefit.
There’s much other good news for children in the President’s budget which all Americans and all members of Congress should strongly support:
· Four more years of funding for the successful bipartisan Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) to ensure 8 million children in working families will continue to have access to high-quality, affordable, and effective child health coverage. If Congress takes no action, CHIP funding will run out this fall.· A $1 billion boost for Title I education funding for poor children – a critical program children living in areas of concentrated poverty desperately need. Title I must include strong accountability measures to make sure poor and vulnerable children truly benefit.· Funding to make permanent key improvements in the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and the Child Tax Credit (CTC) scheduled to expire at the end of 2017. These two tax credits lifted 5 million children out of poverty in 2013. Making these improvements permanent would prevent one million children falling into poverty and 6.7 million falling deeper into poverty.· New help for abused and neglected children and children in foster care including $1.4 billion over 10 years in new guaranteed funding for preventive services to help keep children safely in families and out of costlier foster care, promote family-based care for children with behavioral and mental health needs, and help American Indian children removed from families remain in their communities.· An additional $1.8 billion for rental assistance for low-income families and youths aging out of foster care, including $512 million for restoring 67,000 housing choice vouchers lost from sequestration.
The President’s forward looking budget pays for his critical proposed new investments to alleviate child poverty and reverse harmful unjust cuts by eliminating egregious tax loopholes benefitting powerful corporations and the super-wealthy and other spending inefficiencies. Additionally, the President’s balanced approach would generate more than $1 trillion in deficit reduction over the next decade according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. However, his laudable increased child investments still would not recoup lost funding for non-defense, non-entitlement programs which would still remain 15 percent below 2010 levels adjusting for inflation and population growth.
As Congress considers budget legislation in the coming weeks, I hope they will stop hurting and start helping our most vulnerable children. The President’s proposed new measures are giant steps towards cutting child poverty. The Children’s Defense Fund’s recent report Ending Child Poverty Now shows we can cut child poverty 60 percent – and Black child poverty 72 percent – immediately by investing just 2 percent more of the federal budget in existing programs that work including the EITC, the CTC, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), housing subsidies, child care subsidies, and subsidized jobs.
Children really do have only one childhood and it is right now. Protecting precious child lives and America’s future demands that we act immediately and move forward and not backwards. Let’s stand up to those who hurt children and dim America’s dream of becoming a just society for all. Reported by Huffington Post 16 hours ago.
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A gap in federal privacy law
Insurers aren't required to encrypt consumers' data under a 1990s federal law that remains the foundation for health care privacy in the Internet age -- an omission that seems striking in light of the major cyberattack against health insurance giant Anthem.
Reported by TwinCities.com 17 hours ago.
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Anthem: Hacker tried to breach system as early as Dec. 10
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The hackers who stole millions of health insurance records from Anthem Inc. obtained the credentials of five different employees to try to penetrate the network, and may have been inside the system since December, the company says. Hackers stole names, social security numbers and other information for up to 80 million Anthem customers.
Reported by SeattlePI.com 17 hours ago.
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Anthem hacker tried to breach system as early as Dec. 10
The hackers who stole millions of health insurance records from Anthem Inc. obtained the credentials of five different employees to try to penetrate the network, and may have been inside the system since December, the company says.
Reported by San Jose Mercury News 16 hours ago.
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Anthem: Hackers tried to breach system as early as Dec. 10
The hackers who stole millions of health insurance records from Anthem Inc. were able to somehow commandeer the credentials of five different employees while seeking to penetrate the company's computer network -- and they may have been inside the system since December.
Reported by MyNorthwest.com 16 hours ago.
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Hackers access records for millions of Anthem customers
Health insurance giant Anthem Inc. said hackers had breached its computer system and the personal information of tens of millions of customers and employees was possibly at risk.
Reported by TwinCities.com 15 hours ago.
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Anthem Hackers Tried To Breach System As Early As December
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The hackers who stole millions of health insurance records from Anthem Inc. commandeered the credentials of five different employees while seeking to penetrate the company's computer network — and they may have been inside the system since December.
Anthem said this week that hackers stole names, Social Security numbers and other sensitive information for up to 80 million Anthem customers, in a breach that was first detected on Jan. 27. That's when an Anthem computer system administrator discovered outsiders were using his own security credentials to log into the company system and steal data. Investigators now believe the hackers somehow compromised the credentials of five different tech workers, possibly through some kind of "phishing" scheme that could have tricked a worker into unknowingly revealing a password or downloading malicious software.
The company also confirmed Friday that it found that unauthorized data queries with similar hallmarks started as early as Dec. 10 and continued sporadically until Jan. 27. Attempts may also have been made earlier in 2014, said Kristin Binns, a spokeswoman for Indianapolis-based Anthem, the nation's second-largest health insurer.
Those earlier attempts, including the one on Dec. 10, were deflected by the company's network security defenses, Binns said. Like most companies, Anthem routinely deflects a variety of attempts to make unauthorized access to its systems, she added.
The hackers succeeded in penetrating the system and stealing customer data sometime after Dec. 10 and before Jan. 27, Binns said. She declined to be more specific, saying the matter is still under investigation. Binns was confirming details of an Anthem corporate email that was first made public by an industry blog, CSO Online.
Experts say it's not unusual for sophisticated hacking groups to make repeated attempts to penetrate a computer system before they succeed.
"They may try to compromise them every single day, until the company makes a mistake or one individual makes a mistake," said Jaime Blasco, lab director at AlienVault, a Silicon Valley cyber-security firm that has investigated other hacking attempts but is not involved in the Anthem case.
Anthem's security consultants have said the breach resulted from a "sophisticated" attack by hackers using techniques usually associated with organized financial crime rings or groups working for the government of some country. Blasco said that appears likely.
"This is not some amateur that's trying to hack into their system. We are talking about professionals," he said.
Meanwhile, Anthem warned Friday that other scammers are targeting current and former customers with "phishing" emails that seek to capitalize on concern over the massive data breach. The emails invite customers to enroll in free credit monitoring by clicking on a link, which the company said is a trick aimed at stealing customers' personal information.
"There is no indication that the scam email campaigns are being conducted by those that committed the cyberattack, or that the information accessed in the attack is being used by the scammers," the company said in a statement. Reported by Huffington Post 15 hours ago.
Anthem said this week that hackers stole names, Social Security numbers and other sensitive information for up to 80 million Anthem customers, in a breach that was first detected on Jan. 27. That's when an Anthem computer system administrator discovered outsiders were using his own security credentials to log into the company system and steal data. Investigators now believe the hackers somehow compromised the credentials of five different tech workers, possibly through some kind of "phishing" scheme that could have tricked a worker into unknowingly revealing a password or downloading malicious software.
The company also confirmed Friday that it found that unauthorized data queries with similar hallmarks started as early as Dec. 10 and continued sporadically until Jan. 27. Attempts may also have been made earlier in 2014, said Kristin Binns, a spokeswoman for Indianapolis-based Anthem, the nation's second-largest health insurer.
Those earlier attempts, including the one on Dec. 10, were deflected by the company's network security defenses, Binns said. Like most companies, Anthem routinely deflects a variety of attempts to make unauthorized access to its systems, she added.
The hackers succeeded in penetrating the system and stealing customer data sometime after Dec. 10 and before Jan. 27, Binns said. She declined to be more specific, saying the matter is still under investigation. Binns was confirming details of an Anthem corporate email that was first made public by an industry blog, CSO Online.
Experts say it's not unusual for sophisticated hacking groups to make repeated attempts to penetrate a computer system before they succeed.
"They may try to compromise them every single day, until the company makes a mistake or one individual makes a mistake," said Jaime Blasco, lab director at AlienVault, a Silicon Valley cyber-security firm that has investigated other hacking attempts but is not involved in the Anthem case.
Anthem's security consultants have said the breach resulted from a "sophisticated" attack by hackers using techniques usually associated with organized financial crime rings or groups working for the government of some country. Blasco said that appears likely.
"This is not some amateur that's trying to hack into their system. We are talking about professionals," he said.
Meanwhile, Anthem warned Friday that other scammers are targeting current and former customers with "phishing" emails that seek to capitalize on concern over the massive data breach. The emails invite customers to enroll in free credit monitoring by clicking on a link, which the company said is a trick aimed at stealing customers' personal information.
"There is no indication that the scam email campaigns are being conducted by those that committed the cyberattack, or that the information accessed in the attack is being used by the scammers," the company said in a statement. Reported by Huffington Post 15 hours ago.
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