Geisinger Health, a major Pennsylvania-based healthcare system, is facing a proposed class action settlement tied to a November 2023 cybersecurity incident that may have exposed patients’ personal and potentially sensitive medical information. Healthcare providers have become frequent targets for hackers because electronic health records can contain high-value data like Social Security numbers, insurance details, and treatment information, which can be used for identity theft or medical fraud. According to the settlement website, people who received notice that their information may have been exposed can submit a claim by March 18, 2026, for a payment of up to $5,000, and the site indicates no proof is required. Such lawsuits are typically filed after affected individuals allege that an organization failed to implement reasonable security safeguards, delayed detection or notification, or did not adequately mitigate the risk of harm after the incident. The significance of a settlement like this is twofold: it offers compensation for time spent dealing with the fallout (and, in some cases, out-of-pocket losses) while also pressuring healthcare organizations to upgrade security controls, vendor oversight, and incident response practices. These cases sit within a growing landscape of healthcare breach litigation and enforcement, shaped by industry rules like HIPAA and the HITECH Act’s breach-notification requirements, as well as state consumer-protection and privacy laws—paralleling other high-profile hospital and insurer breach settlements that underscore how cybersecurity has become a core patient-safety and compliance issue, not just an IT problem