Mercer Health & Benefits

Idaho Power Group Health Plan's business associate, Mercer Health and Benefits, lost a backup tape as it was being sent via FEDEX from Boise to Seattle. The backup tape contained information of about 375,000 individuals that Mercer serviced. The total affected at Idaho Power was about 5,500 current and former employees and their dependents. The protected health information involved included names, addresses, dates of birth, and social security numbers. Although Mercer concluded that the lost tape was configured so that even a sophisticated user would be unlikely to be able to access the data within, both Mercer and Idaho Power notified all possible affected individuals and offered free credit protection services. To prevent a similar breach from occurring in the future, Mercer now stores backup tapes through a third party vendor who offers secure transport services. Mercer's Boise office now encrypts backup tapes. Following the incident, Idaho Power renegotiated its contract with Mercer and continues to evaluate its business relationship with Mercer. \