Talk about a paperwork nightmare: a so-called “software error” caused Missouri’s Medicaid agency, also known as MO HealthNet, to send mail containing private information of 1,357 program participants to the wrong address for almost two years.
The mis-addressed mail has participant names, dates of birth, identification account numbers, county names, phone numbers, and the last four digits of Social Security Numbers. Despite the breach, MO HealthNet said in a press release: “There is no reason to believe that any identity theft or other wrongdoing has occurred as result of this incident.”
There is also no reason to believe such crimes can’t still occur in the future, one might suggest.
In the same release, MO HealthNet said the software error was made by one of its contractors, Infocrossing, Inc., between Oct. 16, 2011 and June 7, 2013. The agency said the error is limited to its Managed Care participants.
KBIA wants to know why it took so long for the department to discover the errors, but as of 5 p.m. on Monday, we haven’t heard back from the Missouri Department of Social Services, which controls MO HealthNet.
According to a press release from when it first became a MO HealthNet contractor in 2007, Infocrossing, Inc. provides fiscal agent services to the department. The contract is valued at $407 million.
MO HealthNet, through Infocrossing, Inc., is now offering affected consumers free credit monitoring services and enhanced identity theft consultation and restoration for two years.
MO HealthNet Managed Care is operational in the City of St. Louis and 53 counties, including Boone, Cole, Audrain, Howard, Moniteau and Cooper counties.
