Liability Insurer Moves To Recoup $4.13M in Claims Paid to Santa Barbara-based Cottage Health System
A liability insurance company is seeking to recoup $4.13 million in insurance claims paid to a California-based health system that suffered a health data breach in 2013. In December 2013, Cottage Health System in Santa Barbara, Calif., notified 32,755 patients that their health data might have been compromised after a third-party vendor removed security protections limiting outside access to patient records without notifying the hospital. Cottage Health System was hit with a class-action lawsuit that resulted in a $4.13 million settlement, which the health system's liability insurer -- Columbia Casualty Company -- had agreed to pay. In May, CCC filed a complaint alleging the health system "provided false responses" to a risk control self-assessment in its liability policy application.
- "Health System's Data Breach Insurance Claims Get Challenged" (McCann, Healthcare IT News, 6/1).