Massachusetts
Massachusetts, New Hampshire warn victims after Change Healthcare cyberattack leaks ‘sensitive health and personal data’
Massachusetts and New Hampshire officials are taking steps to notify and provide resources to victims who were left in the dark after an unprecedented Change Healthcare cyberattack may have left their personal and health information exposed on the dark web last February.
Change Healthcare, owned by the nation’s largest insurer UnitedHealth Group, revealed that a cyberattack in February interrupted thousands of doctor’s offices, hospitals and pharmacies and may impact up to one-third of all Americans following the attack. The unprecedent breach reportedly led to victims’ personal and health information being leaked to the dark web, where it can be bought and used by cybercriminals.
Change Healthcare has yet to provide any letters or emails to consumers impacted, the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office said Tuesday, going against precedent for this kind of cyberattack.
“Despite the magnitude of this breach, the delay in notifying affected individuals is unacceptable,” said New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella. “Alongside my counterparts from across the country, I have called upon UnitedHealth Group to take swift and meaningful action to protect those impacted and prevent future breaches.”
Massachusetts and New Hampshire’s AGs, along with other states, are notifying impacted individuals directly and directing victims to resources — including an important offer from Change Healthcare.
All residents who believe they may have been impacted by the breach are eligible for free credit monitoring and identity theft protection for two years through Change Healthcare. Information on the breach and resources, a dedicated call line and links to set up the free credit monitoring and identity theft protection are available on the UnitedHealth Group’s Change Healthcare consumer support webpage.
The company has not fully released how many consumers were effected, and the website and call line are not able to let individuals know if their data was impacted.
Warning signs that someone has stolen your medical information include, the AGs listed: receiving bills from doctors for services you didn’t receive; errors in Explanation of Benefits statement; debt collector calls or debt collection notices about medical debt you do not owe; inaccurate notices from your health insurance company about reaching your benefit limit; being denied insurance because of nonexistent pre-existing conditions.
Formella noted it is “crucial that individuals remain vigilant and monitor any suspicious activity related to their medical or financial information.”
Residents who believe they may have been impacted may also consider freezing their credit, the AGs said.
BOSTON (WWLP) – The Massachusetts Broadband Institute (MBI) announced Wednesday that it is distributing 5,063 internet-enabled devices to 45 organizations across the state.
The statewide effort, administered through the Connected and Online program, aims to expand economic opportunity by increasing digital access. This program is a $31.6 million initiative funded through the U.S. Treasury’s Capital Projects Fund that provides Massachusetts-based organizations with laptops, tablets, and desktop computers to help residents access the internet.
Equipment provided through the program also includes supportive items, such as braille keyboards, intended to assist vulnerable populations.
Both Gateway Cities and rural communities are supported by the Connected and Online program, as residents are provided with direct access to devices through lending programs or resources at publicly accessible locations.
“The Connected and Online program opens doors for communities to access critical services and build relationships with their neighbors,” said Governor Maura Healey. “By partnering with trusted local organizations, we’re helping more people get online, access essential services, and connect to new educational and economic opportunities.”
To date, the program has provided nearly 32,000 devices and more than 13,000 pieces of supportive equipment. These devices have been distributed to hospitals, municipalities, nonprofits, public libraries, elder and youth aid groups, and workforce training organizations across the Commonwealth.
This latest award announcement follows a prior distribution launched by MBI on April 2, which included nearly 27,000 devices to over 200 organizations across the state.
“MBI is leveraging strong relationships with local and regional organizations to deliver digital devices for Massachusetts residents,” said MBI Program Executive Jody Jones. “The Connected and Online program is a statewide effort to expand access, increase digital skills training, and, at its core, expand the ability to connect to the internet.”
For a full list of awardees, visit broadband.mass.tech.org.
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If you want to help people in poverty, don’t drive the wealthy out of state.
That might be something the state senators in the Committee on Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities should keep in mind after they advanced a sweeping bill going full bore at reducing the state’s poverty rate.
Sen. Sal DiDomenico told the State House News his proposal (S 3095) “is a compilation of many bills that have already been filed.” According to his office, the bill, as originally filed, included provisions that would increase the Transitional Aid to Families with Dependent Children cash benefits for pregnant people, families and caregivers; increase Emergency Aid to the Elderly, Disabled and Children cash benefits; codify related benefits and allowances; and bar the government from taking any amount of child support payments from low-income parents.
His office also said the bill would direct the state to replace Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program cash benefits “stolen by criminal rings through skimming or phishing”; ensure access to free menstrual products in public schools, homeless shelters, prisons and county jails; raise farmworker wages to at least the state’s minimum wage; establish a “baby bonds program”; and “enhance” the attorney general’s ability to “ensure companies pay their employees the wages they deserve and hold employers accountable when they steal workers’ wages.”
It’s a tall order, and an impressive one. But the hurdle isn’t just getting it on the Senate’s agenda before the July 31 deadline, it’s how to pay for it.
The idea of front-loading assistance appears sound: helping people escape poverty means they won’t need to rely on social services down the line. But it will still take a sustainable revenue source to keep it all going.
And Massachusetts has been shooting itself in the foot when it comes to keeping revenue inside state borders.
According to Moneywise, Massachusetts millionaires took $4.2 billion in income out of the state in 2023, new Internal Revenue Service data revealed.
As reported by Bloomberg, that’s an 8% increase from the year before, and it comes just as the state began enforcing a new 4% surtax on incomes above $1 million. Higher-income households are now accounting for a larger share of total departures from the state. In 2023, top earners accounted for roughly 70% of total income outflow. That doubles their share from just a few years earlier.
We need to keep them, and their tax payments, here.
But that won’t happen if efforts to lower taxes are met with derision, and the notion that tax breaks only benefit the very rich. The deep-pocketed set that’s heading to tax-friendlier states are gifting their new home turf with a cumulative windfall, even if the individual tax amount is lower than the Bay State.
The same goes for companies who see better opportunities elsewhere.
The senators working on anti-poverty measures have some great ideas, and they should have a budget to implement them. Lifting people up from poverty uplifts the state.
But we can’t pay the bill if we keep driving out high-earning taxpayers. To help the poor, we must keep the rich.
Trombetta’s Farm, at 655 Farm Rd., is listed as a Central Massachusetts stop on the Massachusetts Ice Cream Trail, a state-backed guide launched in 2024 to promote ice cream shops, farm stands, and dairy farms that use Massachusetts dairy products, according to GBH.
The trail features more than 100 destinations across Massachusetts and is managed by the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources. The map includes dairy farms with ice cream stands, farms selling packaged ice cream, and shops selling Massachusetts ice cream products, according to the tourism office.
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