Payers

Anthem to pay record $115 million to settle data breach lawsuit

That 2015 Anthem data breach wasn't so easily forgotten. The health insurer has agreed to pay $115 million to settle a class-action lawsuit over the breach, which impacted 78.8 million individuals.

Health insurer Anthem has agreed to pay $115 million to settle a class-action lawsuit over a 2015 data breach involving the personal information of nearly 80 million individuals.

The settlement must still be approved by a court, but if it is, it will stand as the biggest data breach settlement in history.

Back in 2015, the Indianapolis, Indiana-based insurer was the victim of a cyberattack that involved the Social Security numbers, birthdates, addresses and healthcare ID numbers of 78.8 million people. At that time, Anthem said in a statement, it provided two years of credit monitoring and identity protection services to all impacted individuals.

Still, more than 100 lawsuits were filed against Anthem. They were eventually consolidated.

As part of the hefty $115 million settlement, Anthem will give data breach victims at least two years of credit monitoring and provide cash compensation for individuals who already enrolled in credit monitoring. The health insurer will also cover the out-of-pocket expenses victims have due to the data breach.

On top of that, Anthem has to allocate a certain amount of money for security purposes and make specific changes to its data security systems.

In a statement, the insurer said the settlement “does not include any finding of wrongdoing.” Anthem added that it “is not admitting any wrongdoing or that any individuals were harmed as a result of the cyberattack.”

Anthem continued: “Nevertheless, we are pleased to be putting this litigation behind us, and to be providing additional substantial benefits to individuals whose data was or may have been involved in the cyberattack and who will now be members of the settlement class.”

The insurer isn’t the only one pleased to see this legal matter drawing to a close.

“After two years of intensive litigation and hard work by the parties, we are pleased that consumers who were affected by this data breach will be protected going forward and compensated for past losses,” Eve Cervantez, co-lead plaintiffs’ counsel, said in a statement.

Photo: zimmytws, Getty Images

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