Anthem letter has tone of piling on to Excellus woes

Patti Singer|@PattiSingerRocA new letter about the cyberattack at Excellus BlueCross BlueShield landed in mailboxes in recent days —only it didn’t come from Rochester’s largest health insurer.Anthem, which is part of the nationwide Blue Cross Blue Shield network, sent letters dated Nov. 4 to current or former members of its own plan. Because the two have an affiliation, Anthem was giving its members a heads-upabout the hack that Excellus announced in September.While Anthem included a copy of the letter that Excellus sent to its subscribers, it did not include a letter it sent to its own potential victims of a hack revealed in February that potentially exposed the records of nearly 80 million people. That fact was buried in the letter about Excellus, which seemed like Anthem was throwing its Rochester cousin under the proverbial bus.“I don’t think that was the intention,” Anthem spokeswoman Jill Becher said.For the past or present Anthem members,the letter may have heightened anxiety ab...