Healthcare Firm Handing Up To $5,000 Per Person To Settle Lawsuit Over Cyberattack and Data Breach

A nonprofit healthcare firm has agreed to pay millions of dollars as a settlement over a data breach that happened more than two years ago.

According to the settlement administrator’s portal, Hospital Sisters Health System, headquartered in Springfield, Illinois, will pay $7.6 million to settle a class action lawsuit that arose after unauthorized third parties obtained files containing personal health information and personally identifiable information of the plaintiffs during a cyberattack in August of 2023.

The settlement class members who incurred documented out-of-pocket expenses as a result of the data breach will receive up to $5,000.

The out-of-pocket costs must have been incurred between August 16th of 2023 and November 14th of 2025. The costs could include “losses because of identity theft or fraud; fees for credit reports, credit monitoring, or freezing and unfreezing your credit; cost to replace your IDs; and postage to contact banks by mail.”

Alternatively, the settlement class members will receive a one-time payment that will be determined on a pro-rata basis. For this payment, it will not be necessary for the settlement class members to provide proof of loss suffered as a result of the data breach.

Claims for compensation by the settlement class members and plaintiffs must be submitted by November 14th. The final approval hearing will be held on December 4th.

Despite agreeing to the multi-million dollar settlement, Hospital Sisters Health System denies all the claims and allegations made in the class action lawsuit.

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