Excellus BlueCross BlueShield Data Breach Litigation
Fero, et al. v. Excellus Health Plan Inc. and Lifetime Healthcare, Inc., et al.
United States District Court for the Western District of New York
Case No. 6:15-cv-06569
Case Status
The Plaintiffs filed their Second Amended Consolidated Master Complaint on March 25, 2019. The proposed class action litigation has now moved into the discovery phase and is anticipated to last through fall 2019.
We urge you to visit this website as it will be updated as the litigation progresses.
Case Overview
On September 9, 2015, Excellus Health Plan Inc. acknowledged a data breach of the personal information of over 10 million individuals. In October 2015, Keller Rohrback L.L.P. filed a class action lawsuit against Excellus BlueCross BlueShield for its failure to protect and safeguard the personal information in its possession. On November 9, 2015, all related cases proceeding in the United States District Court for the Western District of New York were consolidated as the litigation entitled, Fero, et. al. v. Excellus Health Plan Inc., et al.
The Second Amended Consolidated Master Complaint is pursuing class action allegations and the causes of action under Negligence, Negligence per se, Breach of Contract, Breach of Implied Contract, Unjust Enrichment, and certain Consumer Protection Laws for various states. You may review information about the proposed classes and the specific claims in the Second Amended Complaint in the Case Documents section below.
Who was affected?
As many as 10 million of Excellus clients, most of whom reside in upstate New York, may have been exposed in an attack dating as far back as December 2013. Members of other BlueCross BlueShield plans who sought treatment in Excellus’ service area may also have been affected. Additionally, subscribers of the following other affiliates may have been affected: Lifetime Benefit Solutions, Lifetime Care, Lifetime Health Medical Group, The MedAmerica Companies and Univera Healthcare.
Case Documents
Consolidated Master Complaint – 04/15/2016
Decision and Order on Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss – 02/22/2017
Decision and Order Reinstating Certain Claims – 01/19/2018
Amended Consolidated Master Complaint – 03/22/2018
Second Amended Consolidated Complaint – 03/25/2019
Other Information
Protecting Your Private Information
The Federal Trade Commission’s website is a great resource for information on immediate steps to take if you’ve been exposed to a data breach: https://www.identitytheft.gov