Healthcare Vendor TMG Health Hit with Class Action Over 2023 Data Breach

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TMG Health faces a proposed class action over a “massive” June 2023 data breach that reportedly compromised the personal information of more than 192,000 individuals.

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The 47-page lawsuit says that TMG—which offers third-party administrative services to major healthcare providers nationwide—is to blame for the exposure of private data entrusted to it by its client businesses, including Blue Cross Medicare Advantage. According to an August 2023 notice letter, TMG Health discovered on June 23 that an unauthorized third party had infiltrated its network and accessed sensitive information stored there on June 21 of this year.

Per the suit, the data compromised in the breach included at least individuals’ full names, Social Security numbers, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, dates of birth and claim and bank account numbers. The case adds that certain medical service data may have been exposed as well, such as patients’ treatment information, provider names, patient identification numbers and health insurance details.

The complaint argues that TMG Health “negligently” failed to implement adequate data security protocols to properly safeguard the private information, which it allegedly stored unencrypted and unprotected in its network.

Moreover, although the company purports to have learned of the cyberattack in June of this year, it did not begin notifying victims until late August, the filing says. As the lawsuit tells it, the notice letter sent to impacted individuals provides only “basic details” about the incident and fails to explain how the cybercriminals gained access, where the stolen data is today and what steps are being taken to protect stored information from unauthorized disclosure in the future.

Given the frequency of cyberattacks in the healthcare industry in recent years, the defendant should have known of the risks and taken commensurate measures to safeguard the data with which it was entrusted, the suit charges.

The plaintiff, a New Mexico resident and Blue Cross Medicare Advantage member, received on August 24 a notice informing her that her private information had been compromised in the breach, the case shares. Like other victims, the woman now faces a significantly increased risk of identity theft, fraud and other illegal schemes as a result of TMG Health’s alleged negligence, the complaint contends.

The lawsuit looks to represent anyone in the United States whose personal information was exposed to unauthorized third parties as a result of the data breach discovered by TMG Health on June 23, 2023.

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