Medicare Beneficiary Data Left in Hotel (SSN's and other personal info)

[Kadie]

Medicare Beneficiary Data Left in Hotel
By KEVIN FREKING, Associated Press Writer

Friday, June 2, 2006

(06-02) 19:25 PDT WASHINGTON (AP) --


Social Security numbers and other personal information for nearly 17,000 Medicare beneficiaries could have been compromised when an insurance company employee called up the data through a hotel computer and then failed to delete the file.


An auditor for the Department of Health and Human Services' inspector general came across the information a few weeks later when using the same hotel computer in Baltimore, Medicare officials disclosed Friday.


Peter Ashkenaz, spokesman for the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Service, said there is no evidence that the information fell into the wrong hands and was misused. However, the agency has instructed the insurance company, Humana Inc., to notify each of the beneficiaries involved.


The Medicare incident comes just a month after the theft of a computer containing personal information about 26.5 million veterans.

more...
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/06/02/national/w151007D46.DTL&type=politics

[MadMaddie]

1. Something has to be done......this is just the tip of the iceberg

Identity theft has gone through the roof.....and the main cause we have been told is because Americans have been careless with their SS# and other personal information....

These incidents are a very bad sign....

[peacetalksforall]

2. It now looks like these people were paid off by our administration -

arranged by Negroponte and Poindexter. This is sick.

[peacetalksforall]

3. They could also be pulling off these thefts to convince us that we all

have to get new National ID's - let our ss numbers go into history. But then there would be a record somewhere of what our old ss # as and our new national ID number is. Hey they got us. End of the U.S. Hi Mr. Orwell. Oh, you can see me from the tv and from the satellite? You think I need some remediation? I only asked one little question?