Change Healthcare Settlement Discussions in Data Breach Lawsuits to Be Held in Late April

As new Change Healthcare class action lawsuits continue to be filed over the data breach, the court has ordered lead counsel to engage in a series of in-person settlement discussions to discuss resolving the litigation.

Lawyers involved in the Change Healthcare data breach lawsuits have been ordered to attend in-person settlement discussions with a U.S. Magistrate Judge in April 2025, to negotiate potential resolutions that may provide financial compensation for millions of individuals facing heightened risks of identity theft, financial fraud, and medical data misuse as a result of a massive security failure last year.

The data breach at Change Healthcare was first announced in February 2024, after the company reported that hackers had accessed sensitive data, including names, Social Security numbers, birthdates, addresses, medical records, and insurance details, affecting up to 100 million people.

Although Change Healthcare is not widely known among consumers, it provides essential software, analytics, and services to the healthcare industry, with an estimated one in three Americans’ private health data passing through its systems.

As a result of the massive security failure, a series of Change Healthcare data breach class action lawsuits have been filed throughout the federal court system, each raising similar allegations that lax cybersecurity measures allowed hackers to access personal identifying and medical information.

Given common questions of fact and law raised in the claims, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) centralized the lawsuits in the District of Minnesota in June 2024, where U.S. District Judge Donovan Frank has been appointed to coordinated discovery, pretrial proceedings, and now, potential Change Healthcare data breach settlements.

In a text order issued on February 25, the Court directed lead counsel for both plaintiffs and defendants to meet with U.S. Magistrate Judge Dulce J. Foster in her chambers on April 30, 2025 at 10:00 AM, to outline the structure and timeline for potential Change Healthcare settlement discussions.

The in-person settlement talks will follow a series of procedural steps taken by Judge Frank in recent months to promote an early resolution to the litigation. Following an initial Change Healthcare lawsuit status conference in September 2024, the court directed the parties to each hold separate ex parte meetings with Judge Foster on December 18, 2024, for the plaintiffs and January 30, 2025, for the defense.

These meetings laid the groundwork for settlement discussions, addressing key factors such as the best structure for negotiations, the appropriate timing for addressing different subgroups of claims, and whether certain motions or discovery should be completed before moving forward. The meetings also considered whether settlement talks should be overseen by the court or conducted through private mediation.

Such court-facilitated meetings are common in complex litigation, helping to streamline negotiations and promote efficient resolution. They also gave each side an opportunity to separately present their stance on a potential global settlement to the court before engaging in joint discussions with the Magistrate.

As the court continues to promote a global resolution amongst the parties, the number of Change Healthcare lawsuits being filed continues to grow, with the JPML reporting in its latest February 2025 docket report that there are now a total of 68 lawsuits pending in the Change Healthcare, Inc., Customer Data Security Breach Litigation

In addition to class action lawsuits, it is also expected that a number of individual arbitration claims will be filed, which may also impact the total Change Healthcare settlement payouts the company is required to make to resolve the litigation.