Kingfish: Medicaid has privacy breach
The Mississippi Division of Medicaid issued the following notice last June:
The Mississippi Division of Medicaid (DOM) is informing approximately 5,220 individuals of the potential exposure of their protected health information (PHI). According to federal law, certain health-care entities are required to notify individuals potentially affected by such incidents.
On April 7, 2017, DOM officials became aware of an issue with the online service the agency used to create forms posted to DOM’s website (http://medicaid.ms.gov). Once an online form was submitted the information was also emailed to designated staff within the agency. The email containing the information was not transmitted in a secure manner (i.e. encrypted). This resulted in the possible exposure of information that may have been entered into certain online forms.
Upon investigation, DOM can confirm those emails and the accompanying information included were stored in a secure manner once received.
This incident had no impact on an individual’s eligibility determination (if they were approved or denied for Mississippi Medicaid), nor on a beneficiary’s benefits if they are currently enrolled and receiving Medicaid services.
Jackson Jamabalya
7/24/17
Magnolia Tribune
