Anthem to pay record $115
million to settle U.S. lawsuits over data breach
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[June 24, 2017]
By Brendan Pierson
(Reuters) - Anthem Inc <ANTM.N>, the
largest U.S. health insurance company, has agreed to settle litigation
over hacking in 2015 that compromised about 79 million people's personal
information for $115 million, which lawyers said would be the largest
settlement ever for a data breach.
The deal, announced Friday by lawyers for people whose information was
compromised, must still be approved by U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in
San Jose, California, who is presiding over the case.
The money will be used to pay for two years of credit monitoring for
people affected by the hack, the lawyers said. Victims are believed to
include current and former customers of Anthem and of other insurers
affiliated with Anthem through the national Blue Cross Blue Shield
Association.
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People who are already enrolled in credit monitoring may choose to
receive cash instead, which may be up to $50 per person, according to a
motion filed in California federal court Friday.
"We are very satisfied that the settlement is a great result for those
affected and look forward to working through the settlement approval
process,” Andrew Friedman, a lawyer for the victims, said in a
statement.
The credit monitoring in the settlement is in addition to the two years
of credit monitoring Anthem offered victims when it announced the breach
in February 2015, according to Anthem spokeswoman Jill Becher, who said
the company was pleased to be resolving the litigation.
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![](../images/062417pics/busine83.jpg)
The office building of health insurer Anthem is seen in Los Angeles,
California February 5, 2015. REUTERS/Gus Ruelas
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The Indianapolis-based company did not admit wrongdoing, and there was no
evidence any compromised information was sold or used to commit fraud, Becher
said.
Anthem said in February 2015 that an unknown hacker had accessed a database
containing personal information, including names, birthdays, social security
numbers, addresses, email addresses and employment and income information. The
attack did not compromise credit card information or medical information, the
company said.
More than 100 lawsuits filed against Anthem over the breach were consolidated
before Judge Koh.
The breach is one of a series of high-profile data breaches that resulted in
losses of hundreds of millions of dollars to U.S. companies in recent years,
including Target Corp <TGT.N>, which agreed to pay $18.5 million to settle
claims by 47 states in May, and Home Depot Inc <HD.N>, which agreed to pay at
least $19.5 million to consumers last year.
(Reporting by Brendan Pierson in New York; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
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