Blumenthal suspects HealthNet disk was stolen

Attorney General Richard Blumenthal says a missing disk containing confidential data on almost 450,000 Health Net patients in Connecticut may have been stolen, rather than lost.

Blumenthal said today he is notifying federal criminal investigators, asking that they take a closer look into the matter.

Health Net got into hot water with AG's office in mid-November when it belatedly disclosed the data breach six months after it first discovered the disk was missing. The missing disk contained health, personal and financial information.

Blumenthal said Health Net lost the information in May, but never informed consumers, the police or his office about the loss of information.

He said the six-month delay in giving notice to consumers and the state could be a violation of the law.

Meanwhile, Blumenthal also is probing Health Net's proposed deal to sell its northeastern licensed subsidiaries covering about 578,000 members in Connecticut, New York and New Jersey to UnitedHealthcare on antitrust grounds.

On Friday, the state insurance department announced its approval of the UnitedHealthcare-Health Net deal.