Catching Up: After flap, 21,000 sign up for free credit monitoring
Nearly 21,000 people affected by a state contractor mailing that mistakenly printed their Social Security numbers on the address labels have signed up for free credit monitoring and identity theft insurance, but so far there have been no reports of improper use of the numbers, officials said.
And despite pronouncements in January that the contractor violated its $32 million annual contract with the state, officials aren 't talking about potential legal action.
It 's been about eight months since state officials disclosed that EDS Corp. printed the Social Security numbers, followed by a zero, on the outside of a mailing sent to 260,000 Medicaid, BadgerCare and SeniorCare participants. The 30,000 SeniorCare participants who received the mailing weren 't supposed to get it.
EDS, which has a $32 million annual contract with the state to administer the state 's Medicaid program, took responsibility for the mistake, offering free credit monitoring and identity theft insurance services for people affected.
Stephanie Marquis, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Health and Family Services, said EDS has since provided recipients with mailings that didn 't list their Social Security numbers on the address labels.
But former DHFS Secretary Kevin Hayden said he believed EDS violated its contract with the state with the disclosure and asked Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen to consider legal action.
Marquis said she couldn 't comment on any legal discussions. Kevin St. John, a spokesman for Van Hollen, also declined comment.
Bill Ritz, an EDS spokesman, declined to comment on the company 's contract with the state.
But he said that there have been no reports of improper use of the Social Security numbers and that the company has spent "several million dollars to mitigate this issue. "
State residents under 18 who were affected by the Social Security number disclosure had until May 15 to sign up for free credit monitoring and identity theft insurance. Adults can sign up until Dec. 31.
People with questions can still call an EDS hotline at 1-800-362-3002.
The state has been using Medicaid participants ' Social Security numbers to identify them but will stop doing that in October, Marquis said.
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