Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, and Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), ranking member, wrote a letter to Anthem outlining concerns with how the payer responded to the massive data breach reported last month.
On Feb. 4, Indianapolis-based Anthem reported hackers had gained access to personal information of nearly 80 million former and current customers and employees through the system's database.
According to the senators' letter, more than 50 million Americans still have not received direct notice from Anthem that their information was compromised.
"While we understand the logistical challenges associated with contacting millions of people, the highly sensitive nature of this information makes early notification essential, and we are concerned with your slow pace of notification and outreach thus far," according to the letter.
The letter requests Anthem to provide an action plan to quicken the pace of notifications as well as outline how Anthem will comply with federal and state laws requiring timely notification for customers whose data has been compromised.
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