Wisconsin Department of Health Services warns thousands of Medicaid members about data leak

Devi Shastri
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The Wisconsin Department of Health Services announced Friday that the personal health data of thousands of state Medicaid members may have been accessed by unauthorized people.

The state Department of Health Services is warning more than 12,000 Medicaid members that their personal health data — including first and last name, date of birth, gender, county location, Wisconsin Medicaid member identification number and Social Security number — may have been exposed to "unauthorized individuals."

DHS officials learned on Aug. 8 that a presentation that was emailed to the agency's Children's Long Term Support Council contained some members' protected health information.

The presentation was forwarded to county government employees in Rock and "other counties," and was also posted to DHS's website as part of meeting minutes.

The agency removed the presentation that was posted online "immediately" after learning of the issue and replaced it with a PDF version that did not include the personal health data, according to a Friday press release. DHS officials also confirmed that people who were emailed the meeting minutes deleted the files they were sent.

The agency said it is continuing to investigate the situation and make changes for the future.

On Friday, 12,358 Wisconsin Medicaid members were notified that their information may have been exposed in the incident. The agency is offering a year of free credit monitoring to all who received those notices. DHS also has established a dedicated call center for people to have their questions answered.

Wisconsin Medicaid members who received a notification or have questions about the incident can call 833-875-0804 between the hours of 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., Monday through Friday, for help.

Contact Devi Shastri at 414-224-2193 or DAShastri@jrn.com. Follow her on Twitter at @DeviShastri.