Mental Health Association Data Breach Exposes Patient Data

Mental Health Association Inc. (MHA), an organization serving individuals affected by mental illness, developmental disabilities, brain injuries, substance use, and homelessness, has experienced a data breach. The data incident was discovered on December 2, 2024 and may have compromised both personally identifiable information (PII) and protected health information (PHI).

The breach was reported to the Massachusetts, Maine, and New Hampshire Attorney Generals' offices starting on May 30, 2025. According to these disclosures, the cybersecurity incident has affected 12,633 individuals in Massachusetts along with 51 and 11 individuals in New Hampshire and Maine, respectively.

The types of personal and protected health information potentially exposed may include name, address, Social Security number, medical diagnosis/condition, medication, medical record number, other medical information, date of birth and driver’s license number. MHA also posted a Notice of Data Security Incident on its own website.

Mental Health Association's response

Upon discovering the incident, MHA launched an investigation and is offering affected individuals 24 months of free credit monitoring and identity theft services through Haystack.

If you believe your personal and protected health information may have been compromised in this data breach, you can take the following steps:

• Sign up for the Haystack credit monitoring and identity protection services offered by MHA.
• Review your account statements and explanation of benefits forms for suspicious activity.
• Monitor your credit reports for any unauthorized accounts or changes.
• Consider placing a fraud alert or credit freeze with the major credit bureaus.

Mental Health Association has also established a dedicated, toll-free call center. Individuals with questions or concerns about the incident can contact the call center Monday through Friday from 9:00 am to 9:00 pm Eastern Time at 855-260-8288.

For more information about MHA’s services, visit the Mental Health Association website.