WellPoint probing data breach for 130,000 members

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Health insurer WellPoint Inc is investigating the cause of a breach involving protected health information for about 130,000 members, the company said on Wednesday.

The largest U.S. health insurer by membership said it recently discovered data became publicly available over the Internet in the past 12 months. The information may have included member ID numbers, possibly including social security numbers, and pharmacy or medical data.

The company fixed the problems and is notifying members, spokeswoman Cheryl Leamon said.

WellPoint, which offers an array of insurance through public and employer-sponsored plans, declined to identify which type of members were involved, or which states they were in, beyond saying they were in several.

The problems stemmed from two Internet servers maintained by third-party vendors, the company said.

WellPoint said it is investigating the issue internally and with external consultants.

(Reporting by Lewis Krauskopf; Editing by Braden Reddall)