State Officials Encourage Precautions After Lapse in Email Encryption Protocol | Eastern North Carolina Now

Press Release:

    RALEIGH, N.C. - The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is notifying affected citizens and the U.S. Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights of a Nov. 30, 2016, incident in which protected health information was sent to health care providers via an unencrypted email.

    The email contained remittance information for monthly financial assistance for adult care and group homes licensed to accept state/county special assistance. Identifying information of 12,731 Medicaid recipients residing in the homes included individuals' first initial, last name, Medicaid identification number and name and address of the home in which they reside.

    The DHHS Privacy and Security Office was notified of the incident. While DHHS cannot determine for certain that the email was not intercepted during transmission over the open internet, DHHS has no reason to believe the information was compromised in any way. After this incident DHHS began using identification numbers that do not reflect protected health information or require encrypted email.

    DHHS has mailed letters to all affected individuals and their guardians notifying them about the incident. The department has also recommended steps to protect against fraud, such as putting an alert on their credit files and keeping an eye on their bank statements and credit card bills for unusual or unauthorized activity.

    If individuals are concerned about credit fraud, they may contact any of the following credit bureaus to ask that a fraud alert be placed on their account:

  • Equifax: 1-800-525-6285
  • Experian: 1-888-397-3742
  • TransUnion: 1-800-680-7289

    If you may have been affected by this incident and have questions, please call 1-800-662-7030.

      NC Department of Health and Human Services

  • 2001 Mail Service Center
  • Raleigh, NC 27699-2001
  • news@dhhs.nc.gov(919) 855-4840

Go Back


Leave a Guest Comment

Your Name or Alias
Your Email Address ( your email address will not be published)
Enter Your Comment ( no code or urls allowed, text only please )




Washington City Council Meeting Agenda for February 27, 2017 Statewide, Government, State and Federal High Winds Today, March 1, 2016


HbAD0

Latest State and Federal

Former President Donald Trump suggested this week that if he becomes president again, he might allow Prince Harry to be deported.
Vice President Kamala Harris will visit a Minnesota Planned Parenthood clinic, reportedly the first time a president or vice president has visited an abortion facility.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) said this week that the only campaign promise President Joe Biden has delivered on as president is the complete dismantling of the U.S. southern border.
Hamas is reeling after losing two of their most cherished leaders on the same day: military commander Saleh al-Arouri, and Harvard President Claudine Gay.
President Joe Biden’s brother told the Internal Revenue Service that Hunter Biden told him he was in business with a “protege of President Xi,” referring to the leader of China, according to notes by an IRS investigator that were divulged during a congressional interview of Jim Biden.
That’s the question Marguerite Roza of Georgetown University’s Edunomics Lab sought to answer in a recent webinar on the topic.
The University of Florida has fired all of its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) employees and shut down its DEI office.
Glenn Beck: 'When the United States government can come after individuals, that's when you know our republic is crumbling.'
Rep. Mark Green (R-TN) reportedly blasted Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for “stonewalling” details about the illegal immigrant accused of murdering Laken Riley, a 22-year-old Georgia college student.

HbAD1

“The Biden administration's plan in the Middle East is to hand over power to the Palestinian Authority, which literally pays the families of terrorists who murder Jews.”
Two Democratic members of North Carolina’s congressional delegation are ranked among the most likely to be picked off in 2024, according to a new analysis from Roll Call.
Former President Donald Trump dominated the North Dakota Republican Caucus on Monday as he continues to inch closer to officially securing the party’s presidential nomination.
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is launching a Community Partner Engagement Plan to ensure the voices of North Carolina communities and families continue to be at the center of the department’s work.
The Pentagon official helped lead an organization that pushed 'transgender day of visibility' in the military
Former President Donald Trump filed an appeal to overturn a Democrat judge’s decision to remove him from the presidential ballot in Illinois.
Republican officials continued their probe of BlackRock this week, saying that the financial giant has not been forthcoming about how climate activists are shaping its policies, according to a letter first obtained by The Daily Wire.

HbAD2

Former Trump White House aide Peter Navarro on Monday was ordered to report to federal prison next week for the four-month-long sentence he was given after he did not show up for a deposition with the January 6 Committee in February 2022.
A national report card on hospital patient safety has ranked North Carolina in third place among hospitals in the U.S. that had mostly “A” ratings when it comes to patient safety, up from sixth place this past spring.
A federal judge tapped by former President Barack Obama ruled on Thursday to hold veteran investigative journalist Catherine Herridge in civil contempt for refusing to reveal who her source was for a series of reports about a Chinese scientist working at an American university
One of several wildfires raging in the Texas Panhandle has grown to become the largest in state history.
To quiet some of the controversy that arose from the publication of a calendar featuring conservative women, a Republican political action committee has announced the release of a new "Real Conservative Men" calendar for 2024 featuring 12 pictures of Congressman Thomas Massie
The White House unveiled a new term on Thursday for the millions of illegal aliens who have flooded into the U.S. under President Joe Biden, which came just shortly before Biden took a trip to the border for a photo op at a spot that has had few illegal aliens cross.
House Homeland Security Committee Chair Mark Green (R-TN) announced this week that he is reversing his decision to retire after receiving calls from former President Donald Trump and others.
Several alternative ways of hog waste management have been studied, but few have been implemented in North Carolina
Former President Donald Trump spoke at a news conference in Eagle Pass, Texas, on Thursday and addressed the brutal murder of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley, saying he spoke with Riley’s parents, who “are devastated beyond belief.”

HbAD3

 
Back to Top