TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - A health insurer has reached a settlement with the state of New Jersey over its inadvertent release of customers’ personal information.
New York-based EmblemHealth sent mailers in 2016 to more than 80,000 people, including more than 6,000 in New Jersey, that contained labels with an identifying number that incorporated customers’ Social Security numbers.
An investigation revealed that the employee who normally prepared the mailings had left the company, and a manager took over the task but was given minimal training.
New Jersey’s attorney general’s office announced Monday the company has agreed to pay a $100,000 penalty and upgrade its security and identification procedures.
As part of those upgrades, EmblemHealth will switch to a system that no longer uses the identifying numbers that contain Social Security numbers.
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