Health insurer Aetna has agreed to pay $17 million to settle a class-action lawsuit regarding its disclosure of as many as 12,000 members’ HIV statuses.
The situation began last July when the Hartford, Connecticut-based insurer sent out letters to customers about ordering prescription HIV drugs. Information about members’ HIV medications was visible through the transparent window of the envelopes.
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Strangely, the mailing was supposed to address patient privacy concerns that arose after two lawsuits filed against the insurer in 2014 and 2015. Although Aetna proposed customers receive HIV medications from mail-order pharmacies, many objected, citing potential privacy problems.
Shortly thereafter, the AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania, the Legal Action Center and Berger & Montague filed a lawsuit on the matter. The complaint states that Aetna “carelessly, recklessly, negligently, and impermissibly revealed HIV-related information of their current and former insureds to their family, friends, roommates, landlords, neighbors, mail carriers and complete strangers.”
The lead plaintiff in the case, a 52-year-old Pennsylvania man, doesn’t have HIV, but takes prescriptions as part of a pre-exposure prophylaxis regimen to decrease his chances of acquiring it. His sister learned from the unopened letter that he was taking HIV medications.
To settle the suit, Aetna will now pay $17,161,200, pending court approval.
Members whose privacy was breached via the envelopes will receive $500. Plaintiffs whose protected health information was disclosed by Aetna to its legal counsel and a settlement administrator will receive $75.
Aetna sent the following statement on the matter:
Through our outreach efforts, immediate relief program and this settlement we have worked to address the potential impact to members following this unfortunate incident. In addition, we are implementing measures designed to ensure something like this does not happen again as part of our commitment to best practices in protecting sensitive health information.
Photo: zimmytws, Getty Images
