A $115 million settlement has been proposed following the 2015 data breach involving Anthem, the United States' largest health insurance company.
Almost 79 million patient records were comprised during the hack, after cyber criminals were able to access the database using stolen passwords.
Judge Lucy Koh of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California is scheduled to make a decision on the settlement August 17, 2017.
If granted, the $115 settlement fund will be used to provide victims with two years of credit monitoring, cover expenses accrued by consumers, and repay customers already paying for credit monitoring out of pocket. Anthem will also be required to maintain a certain level of cybersecurity hygiene, on behalf of the fund
This will be the largest data breach settlement in history, so far.
“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,” says Eve Cervantez, one of the lawyers representing the plaintiffs.
Names, dates of birth, social security numbers, and health ID numbers were all compromised as part of the attack.
Victims of the breach can follow the settlement and receive updates as part of the Anthem Data Breach Litigation Website.
"We are very satisfied that the settlement is a great result for those affected and look forward to working through the settlement approval process,” says Andrew Friedman, a lawyer for those affected.
