Wichita — Citing the growing problem of identity theft, the largest health insurer in Kansas announced Friday it would stop using Social Security numbers to identify its members.
The move by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas is the latest in a national insurance industry trend to do away with Social Security numbers as identifiers, said Mary Beth Brutton, a spokeswoman for the company.
The 41 independent insurers that comprise the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Assn. have set Jan. 1, 2006, as the target date to issue new numbers for the 91 million people they insure across the nation, she said.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas expects to complete the transition to random numbers by the end of this month. It will take about four months to produce and mail new identification cards for its nearly 620,000 members in Kansas.
The decision was welcomed at the Kansas Insurance Department. The state already is moving away from using Social Security numbers on driver's licenses.
"Anytime we take measures to protect someone's identity, it is a move in the right direction," said Charlene Bailey, spokeswoman for the Kansas Insurance Department.
Use of Social Security numbers as identifiers is a common practice for many insurance companies, Bailey said. But other companies in Kansas, including Coventry Health Care of Kansas Inc., are moving away from the practice of using Social Security numbers on their identification cards.
Several states also are taking the lead in restricting the use of Social Security numbers by the private sector, according to an examination of state legislation by the U.S. General Accounting Office.
In 2001, California passed a law prohibiting companies and people from printing Social Security numbers on cards required to access products or services.
Missouri has passed a law, which is not effective until July 1, 2006, that will bar companies from transmitting Social Security numbers over the Internet.
Kansas does not have comparable legislation.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas serves all Kansas counties except Johnson and Wyandotte.
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