My question is a insurance company sent my full name, social sercurity number and all my info concerning my short term disability claim to a third party on accident, is this a hipaa violation? They did send me a letter but offered nothing about what to do about it as far as my identity being stolen or anything? If this is a violation is there anything I can do?

That all depends on who EXACTLY the third party is.

If this was done by accident, then yes it is a violation. You can report it at the HIPAA web site. They will investigate and maybe 2-3 years down the line, impose a fine against the insurer.

If you want you can contact the insurer and demand that they pay for a credit monitoring a service for you. But this appears to be an honest mistake, and its unlikely the 3rd party will use the info maliciously.

How did you find out about it?

If this was done by accident, then yes it is a violation. You can report it at the HIPAA web site. They will investigate and maybe 2-3 years down the line, impose a fine against the insurer.

If you want you can contact the insurer and demand that they pay for a credit monitoring a service for you. But this appears to be an honest mistake, and its unlikely the 3rd party will use the info maliciously.

How did you find out about it?

I found out about it because they sent me a letter stating they had done it. Then told me I needed to pay to have my credit monitored. Then they told me what it would cost to do so. I was dumb founded that they would expect me to pay for their mistake, I didn't know if I should report it to hippa or if I should just let it go.

Usually when something like this happens they pay for credit monitoring. I would suggest that, if they don't you will report it to HIPAA.