Anthem, Inc., the country’s second largest insurer has agreed to pay $16 million to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) and take corrective action to settle potential violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”) Privacy and Security Rules. The $16 million settlement significantly surpasses the previous settlement high of $5.55 million paid to OCR in 2016. “The largest health data breach in U.S. history fully merits the largest HIPAA settlement in history,” OCR Director Roger Severino said.

Originally published in Birmingham Medical News - October 2018.