Change Healthcare Court Hearing Rescheduled at Representatives’ Request

Parties involved in the data breach of healthcare technology company Change Healthcare are set to meet separately with a US Judge over the next two months to discuss a potential settlement structure for millions of affected Americans.

A report by DataBreaches.Net this Tuesday, December 3, said that representatives from Change Healthcare, including its lead counsel, were ordered to appear before US District Court Judge Donovan W. Frank in the District of Minnesota on either December 16 or 17, or on January 16, 2025. The purpose was to resume settlement talks and discuss the optimal time for the payout to millions of Americans.

The hearing was originally scheduled for Wednesday, December 4, but was postponed following a rescheduling request from the defense team after they were reported to have fallen ill from Covid or have been advised by medical professionals against flying.

Separately, Judge Frank issued a text order which directed the company’s lead counsel for plaintiffs and defendants to hold separate, in person ex parte meetings, with US Magistrate Judge Dulce J. Foster, to explore the possibility of settlement talks.

The ex parte meeting for plaintiffs’ counsel is set to be held on December 18, 2024, while defense counsels’ meeting is scheduled for January 30, 2025. Both meetings will be held at 2 pm in Judge Foster’s Chambers at the Minneapolis Courthouse.

According to a docket entry issued on November 12, 2024, the Court indicated that the meetings must include discussions around the best structure for negotiations. It should also address optimal timing for when discussions should be held on different subgroups of claims, whether certain motions or discovery needs to be completed before settlement negotiations, and whether the talks will be Court-directed or through private mediation.

In February this year, Change Healthcare announced that a ransomware attack by a Russian hacker group known as ALPHV/BlackCat had stolen personal and medical information of approximately 100 million individuals. The leak included a wide range of sensitive data such as names, social security numbers, dates of birth, addresses, medical records, and insurance details, among others.

Following the data breach, the company was said to have attempted to buy back the data for approximately $22 million bitcoin. However, stolen information appears to still be offered for sale on the dark web.

A growing number of class action lawsuits have since been filed throughout the federal court system, each raising similar questions of fact and law, and seeking damages for individuals who are now facing a risk of credit and identity fraud.

Change Healthcare is a subsidiary of American multinational health insurance and services giant UnitedHealth Group. It provides critical software, analytics and services for medical providers throughout the healthcare system, and some estimates suggest that one out of every three Americans has their private health information pass through the company’s servers.