Philadelphia-based Independence Blue Cross is notifying 12,500 members that their personal data may be compromised after discovering paper records were improperly discarded, according to a Philadelphia Inquirer report.
Maintenance workers threw away four boxes of members' paper records, which were supposed to be moved to a different floor at IBC's offices, according to the report.
Compromised data includes member names, addresses, identification numbers, healthcare plans and group members. Additionally, approximately 8,800 members' Social Security numbers were included in the records, according to the report.
IBC said it has not received any indication that compromised member information has been misused. The payer is offering one year of free credit monitoring to members whose Social Security numbers were included in the records, according to the report.
As a precautionary measure, IBC is no longer allowing maintenance team members to throw away full boxes in the trash, IBC spokesperson Liz Williams said in the report.
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