After a data breach last year, Alexandria has switched ambulance transportation billing vendors.
It can cost upward of $750 for a ride to the hospital in an ambulance, and the city changed billing providers after “an issue” with the previous vendor, Change Healthcare/Optum/Per Your Health (CHC).
“A cybercriminal gained unauthorized access to the CHC computer system,” CHC reported. “For the majority of potentially affected individuals, Social Security numbers were not impacted, and except in rare instances, financial and banking information, payment cards, driver’s licenses or state ID numbers, or other ID numbers were not involved in this incident.”
The Alexandria Fire Department says on its website that some residents could get a bill or requests for insurance info from CHC.
“We are asking that residents disregard any billing questions that they receive from this company,” according to AFD. “The City of Alexandria’s new vendor for billing is EMS Management & Consultants (EMS|MC). Once new bills are sent to customers, questions can be directed to their website here or by calling 1-800-849-5603.”
According to CHC:
The last round of impacted customers with attributed individuals was notified to confirm whether they want CHC to handle notifications on their behalf. Notices were sent to impacted customers on June 20, 2024, August 8, 2024, September 16, 2024, November 21, 2024, and December 4, 2024. At this time, CHC does not anticipate that it will identify any additional customers.
