Class Action Suit against Premera Insurance

Kantrowitz, Goldhamer, Graifman, Perlmutter & Carballo, P.C. (“KGG”) has filed suit against Premera Blue Cross regarding a serious security data breach, confirmed by the company in May 2014. This breach exposed financial and medical information for over 11 million customers. The breach allowed access to customers’ claims data, clinical information, banking and social security numbers, birth dates and other private information. The reported breach is a result of a massive, sustained hacking of Premera’s computer systems.

The alarming part of this cybercrime/breach is that customers were not told about it until six weeks after the health insurer discovered it.

Due to Premera’s insufficient security system and negligent behavior, customers have been affected worldwide, therefore, we have decided to pursue class action litigation to hold the insurer accountable for this breach of private information.

Our main allegations in the data breach class action lawsuit are that the company failed to protect its customers, and failed to take proper precautions and safety updates to prevent this breach.

The class action suit has been filed in federal court in the Western District of Washington and seeks a “to be determined” amount of compensation for the future economic losses suffered by 11 million Premera policy holders.

Millions are alarmed because medical records are the most valuable sources of information during criminal exchanges. Exposure of such data can easily lead to insurance fraud as complete insurance files are frequently sold for hundreds of dollars per file on the internet black market.

“Medical records paint a really personal picture of somebody’s life and medical procedures,” Mr. Kennedy said. “They allow you to perpetrate really in-depth medical fraud.”

A Premera spokesman, Eric Earling, said the company has hired FireEye to investigate the breach and is also working with the F.B.I.

“Our investigation determined that attackers may have gained unauthorized access to personal information, but we have not determined that any information was removed from our system,” Premera stated on its Website

The cyberattack affected Premera Blue Cross, Premera Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alaska, and affiliated brands Vivacity and Connexion Insurance Solutions.   However, many Washington –based companies (e.g., Starbucks) have employees nationwide who are insured through Premera and whose information resides in Premera’s database.

So far the harm done by the data breach has been substantial, as victims may be forced to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars to reinsure the privacy of their medical records.

All of our attorneys at “KGG” are dedicated to holding corporations liable for poor data security structures that put people at risk for fraud and identity theft. Everyone has the right to privacy when it comes to their personal information, so, our attorneys will do everything in our power to protect that right.

If you are a customer who has been affected by a data breach, Gary S. Graifman, Esq. of Kantrowitz, Goldhamer, Graifman, Perlmutter & Carballo, P.C. represents consumers in class action lawsuits against corporations, manufacturers, businesses and banks that have carelessly endangered the personal information of victims.

Our firm has represented victims in similar data breach cases. Last year, our attorneys filed a lawsuit against Home Depot and Anthem, which allegedly exposed the identities of up to 56 million cardholders.

If you would like more information about potentially joining this lawsuit, contact attorney Gary S. Graifman today.

For more information about your rights as a consumer or member of a class action case, click here.

Source:  http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/03/17/us/ap-us-premera-blue-cross-data-breach.html