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A group of plaintiffs have asked a federal judge in Arizona to approve a $6 million settlement resolving claims that 2.6 million individuals were affected by a 2016 Banner Health data breach.
The memorandum filed in support of the settlement states that the plaintiffs will receive a two-year subscription to a credit monitoring and identity protection service.
In addition, the Banner Health class action settlement will provide reimbursement of ordinary expenses of up to $500 per Class Member and $10,000 per Class Member for extraordinary expenses.
The Banner Health class action settlement also requires the company to improve their security systems.
The proposed settlement further includes $2.9 million in attorneys’ fees and incentive awards of $5,000 for each of the named plaintiffs in the case.
According to the class action, in June 2016 hackers accessed Banner’s systems and downloaded “massive quantities” of personally identifying information (PII), personal healthcare information (PHI), and personal credit information (PCI).
“The Security Incident exposed Banner patients, insureds, providers, and payment card users to a significantly increased risk of suffering devastating and expensive financial and medical identity theft,” the Banner Health class action settlement states.
The settlement motion also notes that fraud started shortly after the data breach. One of the plaintiffs in the case had fraudulent bank accounts set up in her name and the hackers attempted to use another plaintiff’s credit accounts, states the proposed settlement memorandum.
After the breach, 11 class action lawsuits were filed against Banner Health. A judge consolidated these cases under In re: Banner Health Data Breach Litigation.
The data breach reportedly exposed extremely sensitive information of millions of patients, health plan members, food and beverage customers, as well as physicians and healthcare providers.
“Information such as birth dates, names, addresses, Social Security numbers, medical data, and personal identifying information are especially valuable to cyber criminals because they cannot be readily changed or canceled (unlike credit cards) and can be used to perpetrate other frauds, including the creation of false records for identity theft,” the class action lawsuit claims.
In addition, the class action lawsuit states that Banner Health did not provide any detailed information about the extent of the data breach, such as which vulnerabilities led to the breach, and what measures were implemented to prevent more breaches from happening in the future.
All of the parties in this case reportedly participated in extensive settlement negotiations between December 2018 and August 2019, which included an interview with Banner’s Chief Information Security Officer.
As part of the settlement, Banner will continue to “follow new information-security practices that Banner put in place after the Security Incident and during the course of the litigation.”
Proposed Class Members in this case include: “All persons who were notified by Banner that their Personal Information may have been compromised as a result of the Security Incident.”
Are you a patient of Banner Health whose personal information was compromised? Leave a message in the comments section below.
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The plaintiffs are represented by Andrew S. Friedman and William F. King of Bonnett Fairbourn Friedman & Balint PC and Paul L. Stoller of Dalimonte Rueb Stoller LLP, and executive committee counsel Eric H. Gibbs, David Stein and Amanda M. Karl of Girard Gibbs LLP and Robert B. Carey, Leonard W. Aragon and Michelle A. Kras of Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP.
The Banner Health Data Breach Class Action Lawsuit is In re: Banner Health Data Breach Litigation, Case No. 2:16-cv-02696, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona.
UPDATE: February 2020, the Banner Health data breach class action settlement is now open. Click here to file a claim.
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24 thoughts on$6M Banner Health Data Breach Class Action Settlement Reached
I heard $147 checks going out today
Just received $45