Labcorp patients may qualify for up to $5,000 payout
If you have ever had blood work, lab testing, or other medical tests done through Labcorp, you might want to check your records. A proposed $35 million settlement could send payments to millions of patients whose personal information was exposed in a major healthcare data breach linked to the American Medical Collection Agency, which collapsed shortly after the incident came to light. Depending on your situation, eligible patients could receive anywhere from about $50 to as much as $5,000.
AMCA handled billing and collections for Labcorp, among several other healthcare companies. Between August 2018 and March 2019, hackers gained access to the collections company’s systems, exposing sensitive information belonging to millions of patients. The breach eventually affected roughly 24 million people nationwide and became one of the largest healthcare vendor breaches in the United States at the time.
According to court records, the compromised data may have included Social Security numbers, payment card information, medical test information, diagnostic codes, and personal identifying information. The incident became so severe that AMCA filed for bankruptcy in 2019 just weeks after discovering the breach.
Like many large class-action settlements, the agreement doesn't mean Labcorp admits liability. The company denies allegations including negligence, breach of contract, and other claims raised in the litigation. According to the settlement website, the agreement is intended to resolve disputed claims rather than serve as an admission of wrongdoing.
Who could qualify for money?
The settlement covers people whose information was transmitted by Labcorp to AMCA and was stored in AMCA’s systems during the breach period. Eligible class members have two main options. The first is reimbursement for documented losses and expenses related to the breach, up to $5,000 per person. The second option is an alternative cash payment expected to be around $50. Note that the final amount could vary depending on how many claims are submitted.
Eligible individuals may also receive two years of medical and healthcare information monitoring services.
For millions of people whose information was caught up in the AMCA hack, this settlement could finally provide some compensation for an incident that exposed some of the most sensitive data anyone can have.
Source: Gov Info Security
