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Press Release

Press Release  AG’S Office Warns Consumers And Offers Resources Following Change Healthcare's (A Unit Of UnitedHealth) Unprecedented February Cyberattack

For immediate release:
7/09/2024
  • Office of the Attorney General

Media Contact   for AG’S Office Warns Consumers And Offers Resources Following Change Healthcare's (A Unit Of UnitedHealth) Unprecedented February Cyberattack

Sydney Heiberger, Press Secretary

Boston — The Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office (AGO) announced today that it is taking action to inform consumers who may have had their personal information breached in Change Healthcare’s unprecedented cyberattack this past February. Change Healthcare is owned by UnitedHealth Group, the nation’s largest health insurer.

In April, Attorney General Andrea Campbell joined other attorneys general in sending a letter to UnitedHealth Group, Inc. urging the corporation to take more meaningful action to better protect providers, pharmacies, and patients harmed by the recent breach.

Typically, when there is a data breach impacting Massachusetts residents, consumers receive an individualized letter or email if their data was impacted. However, Change Healthcare has not yet provided individual notice to consumers. 

Change Healthcare has publicly stated that the data breach, which interrupted operations for thousands of doctor’s offices, hospitals, and pharmacies, could impact up to 1/3 of all Americans. It also resulted in Americans’ sensitive health and personal data being leaked onto the dark web - a hidden portion of the Internet where cyber criminals buy, sell, and track personal information.

Given the delay between the data breach and notification to those impacted, the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office is publicizing not just the breach, but also resources, including the offer that Change Healthcare has provided to the public.

Change Healthcare is offering ALL Massachusetts residents who believe they may have been impacted free credit monitoring and identity theft protections for two years. The dedicated website and call center can guide individuals through setting up free credit card monitoring and identity theft protections but will not be able to provide individuals with details about whether their data was impacted.

Because the actual number and identity of affected patients are not yet known, the AG’s Office encourages everyone to be aware of and utilize the following resources:

If consumers are concerned that their data may have been impacted but prefer not to use the free resources provided by Change Healthcare, they can also consider freezing their credit.

A credit freeze prevents potential creditors—such as banks or lenders—from accessing individual’s credit reports. This will stop identity thieves from taking out new loans or credit cards in consumer’s names because creditors will not approve their loans or credit requests if they cannot first access their credit reports. By law, a credit bureau must allow you to place, temporarily lift, or remove a credit freeze for free.

More information about how to place a credit freeze can be found on the AGO’s website: https://www.mass.gov/info-details/freeze-your-credit.

Change Healthcare is the nation’s biggest electronic data clearinghouse. Change Healthcare's technological infrastructure is used by tens of thousands of providers, pharmacies, and insurers to verify insurance, confirm pre-authorization of procedures or services, exchange insurance claim data, and perform other administrative tasks essential to the delivery of health care.

Cyberattacks in the healthcare sector have increased in both frequency and severity in recent years. Data breaches involving protected health information covered by HIPAA are required to be reported to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services - Office for Civil Rights (hhs.gov), which maintains a portal of reported breaches. Since the beginning of this year, the portal shows data breaches impacted the protected health information of nearly 38 million individuals.

Joining Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell in sharing these consumer protection resources is a bipartisan group of attorneys general from across the country.

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Media Contact   for AG’S Office Warns Consumers And Offers Resources Following Change Healthcare's (A Unit Of UnitedHealth) Unprecedented February Cyberattack

  • Office of the Attorney General 

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