Aetna Settles HIV Status Disclosure Class Action Lawsuit for $17M

Aetna Inc., Aetna Life Insurance Company and Aetna Specialty Pharmacy LLC have reportedly agreed to pay $17 million to settle a class action lawsuit accusing them of improperly disclosing confidential information about patients’ HIV status, according to court documents filed this week in Pennsylvania federal court.

The proposed HIV status disclosure class action settlement will resolve a class action lawsuit filed in August 2017 by plaintiff Andrew Beckett and others who accuse the Aetna defendants of improperly disclosing protected health information and confidential HIV-related information to third parties.

According to the Aetna class action lawsuit, a mailing was sent to Aetna policyholders who take HIV medications and an HIV preventative medical regimen about how to fill their prescriptions. These letters allegedly were mailed in envelopes with clear plastic windows through which policyholders’ names, addresses, claim numbers and prescription filling instructions were visible.

These mailings were reportedly sent as part of an earlier class action settlement that accused Aetna of violating policyholders’ privacy by requiring them to get their HIV medications through the mail rather than from physical pharmacies.

The Aetna class action lawsuit asserted claims for negligence, negligence per se, invasion of privacy, unjust enrichment, violations of Pennsylvania’s Confidentiality of HIV-Related Information Act and the Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law.

Six separate HIV privacy class action lawsuits will reportedly be resolved by this proposed Aetna settlement. The plaintiffs in these Aetna class action lawsuits accused the insurance company of failing to properly safeguard their HIV-related information.

The Aetna defendants deny any liability but agreed to settle the HIV privacy class action lawsuit to avoid the risk and expense of ongoing litigation.

Class Members of the proposed Aetna settlement include anyone whose protected health information and/or confidential HIV-related information was allegedly improperly disclosed by Aetna to third parties including the law firm of Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP and settlement administration company Kurtzman Carson Consultants LLC as part of the Doe class action lawsuits.

The plaintiffs claim that Aetna provided data that identified more than 13,000 people to its own legal counsel in the initial Doe lawsuits, who in turn provided the data to KCC so that it could provide notice of the settlement to eligible Class Members. KCC allegedly used an envelope with a large transparent window, and the notice was formatted, folded and inserted into the envelope so that the recipients’ names, addresses, claim numbers, and instructions for filling HIV medications (including the “HIV” acronym”) were visible through the transparent window.

“The Settlement creates a gross, non-reversionary cash settlement fund of $17,161,200.00, which will provide substantial and meaningful – and immediate – benefits for the Settlement Class,” the plaintiffs say in support of preliminary approval of the Aetna class action settlement.

If the Aetna class action settlement is approved, eligible Class Members who received a benefit notice would receive an automatic net payment of at least $500, and would be entitled to submit a claim for an additional $20,000 in benefits. Class Members who did not receive the benefit notice but whose information was allegedly improperly disclosed by Aetna would receive an automatic net payment of $75.

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The plaintiffs are represented by Shanon J. Carson, Sarah R. Schalman-Bergen, E. Michelle Drake and John Albanese of Berger & Montague PC; Ronda B. Goldfein, Yolanda French Lollis and Adrian M. Lowe of the AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania; and Sally Friedman, Monica Welby and Karla Lopez of the Legal Action Center.

The Aetna HIV Status Disclosure Class Action Lawsuit is Andrew Beckett, et al. v. Aetna Inc., et al., Case No. 2:17-cv-03864, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

UPDATE: June 2018, the Aetna HIV status disclosure class action settlement is now open. Click here to file a claim.