Approximately 90,000 current and former Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield members in Iowa and South Dakota had personal data accessed as a result of the cyberattack against Anthem Inc., a Wellmark official confirmed today.  A smaller group of Wellmark members – about 1,700 – may have had their Social Security numbers compromised, the Des Moines-based health insurer said.

During the past week, Wellmark has been collaborating with Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield to determine if any of its members who received health care services in Anthem service areas were affected by the recent cyberattack against that company.  

Earlier this week, Anthem officials said that between 8.8 million to 18.8 million people who were members of other Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans could be victims in the attack, Reuters reported.

Anthem on Tuesday updated its estimate of the total number of records accessed in its database to 78.8 million customers from its initial estimate of 80 million. Anthem did not know how many of its own versus other Blue Cross affiliate members were affected because of a large number of incomplete records, it said.

Anthem, the second-largest U.S. health insurer, is part of a national network of independently run Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans – among them Wellmark – through which BCBS customers can receive medical services when they are in an area where BCBS is operated by a different company. Those customers may have been affected because their records may be included in the database that was hacked, Anthem said.

Wellmark spokeswoman Traci McBee today reiterated that Wellmark’s data systems were not affected by recent cyberattack against Anthem and that the impact is limited to Wellmark members who received health care services in Anthem service areas.

The approximately 90,000 Wellmark customers who had data accessed include both current and former Wellmark members, McBee said. The data accessed included their name, Wellmark I.D. number (not Social Security number), address, date of birth and gender. About 1,700 members who provided their Social Security numbers when they received health care services while in an Anthem service area – which includes 14 states – may have had that information compromised, she said.

McBee did not have a breakout of how many of those records were for Iowa members. The insurer has approximately 1.7 million customers in Iowa.

Anthem will be communicating directly with everyone affected in the coming weeks, McBee said. “In the meantime, and in the best interest of our impacted members, Wellmark has been proactively reaching out to groups who may have employees impacted to ensure they understand the impact and have the information they need in advance of any communications from Anthem,” she said.

Wellmark is also sending a letter to these individuals informing them where they can go to receive Anthem’s identity repair assistance and credit monitoring services. Members who want to see this information online can visitwww.Anthemfacts.com.