Anthem Reaches $115M Data Breach Settlement
The resulting business will be based at Anthem's Indianapolis headquarters.
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowIndianapolis-based Anthem Inc. (NYSE: ANTM) has reached a $115 million settlement agreement over the 2015 data breach involving nearly 80 million people. Attorneys for the plaintiffs in the class action lawsuit say the agreement, if approved by the court, would be the largest data breach settlement in history.
The settlement fund would be used to provide those affected by the breach with at least two years of credit monitoring or reimburse those who are already enrolled. It would also cover out-of-pocket expenses for impacted consumers. The agreement would also require Anthem to maintain a specific level of funding for information security and change some security practices.
The 2015 cyberattack resulted in the theft of the personal information of about 78.8 million people, including names, birthdays, social security numbers and health care ID numbers. It led to more than 100 lawsuits being filed against Anthem. Co-lead plaintiffs’ counsel Eve Cervantez says she is "pleased that consumers who were affected by this data breach will be protected going forward and compensated for past losses."
United States District Court for the Northern District of California Judge Lucy Koh is scheduled to hear the motion for settlement on August 17.
The news comes in the midst of an eventful few months for the insurer. Last week, Anthem, along with Indianapolis-based MDwise Marketplace, announced it would not offer individual plans in Indiana through the federally-subsidized Affordable Care Act exchanges next year. In May, Anthem terminated its proposed $54 billion merger with Cigna Corp. (NYSE: CI), which would have created the largest insurance company in the United States.