Published
July 7, 2026
If you got a notice about the 2023 Chattanooga Heart Institute data breach, you can file for cash and two years of credit monitoring — but the claim window closes July 13, 2026.
What Is This Settlement About?
Memorial Heart Institute, LLC, which does business as The Chattanooga Heart Institute, has agreed to a $3,750,000 class action settlement to resolve claims arising from a data breach that the practice disclosed in 2023. According to the lawsuit and the breach notices, an unauthorized actor gained access to the cardiology group's network between March 8 and March 16, 2023, and removed files that contained patients' personal and protected health information.The lawsuit alleges that Chattanooga Heart Institute failed to adequately safeguard that information. The practice denies the allegations and any wrongdoing, and no court has found it liable. The two sides agreed to settle to avoid the cost and uncertainty of continued litigation. If you received a notice about this settlement, you can file a claim for cash benefits and enroll in credit monitoring — but only until the July 13, 2026 deadline.
Status
Claims Open
Claim Deadline
July 13, 2026
Estimated Payout
Up to $5,500
Documented out-of-pocket losses up to $5,500 · pro-rata cash payment for the Social Security number subclass · 2 years of credit monitoring for the whole class
Proof Required
Yes
Class Member ID from your mailed settlement notice (plus documentation if you claim out-of-pocket losses)
What Happened?
The Chattanooga Heart Institute is a large cardiology practice serving southeast Tennessee and north Georgia. Court filings and the practice's notices describe an intrusion in which an unauthorized actor accessed the network over roughly a week in March 2023 and exfiltrated files. The incident has been publicly described as a ransomware-style cyberattack.According to the notices and settlement documents, the information potentially involved varied by person but could include names, Social Security numbers, driver's license numbers, financial account information, health insurance information, medical history, and dates of birth. Not everyone in the class had the same data elements exposed, which is why the settlement treats people whose Social Security numbers were involved as a separate subclass with an added benefit.
Who Qualifies?
The settlement class is the roughly 460,000 individuals who were sent notice that their personal or protected health information may have been involved in the March 2023 Chattanooga Heart Institute data breach. Within that group, about 287,000 people whose Social Security numbers were involved make up a Social Security number subclass that is eligible for an additional cash payment.If you received a mailed settlement notice with a unique Class Member ID, you have been identified as a class member. You will need that Class Member ID to file your claim.
How Much Can You Get?
The $3,750,000 settlement fund is split into two parts: a non-reversionary $2,000,000 fund reserved for the Social Security number subclass and a fund of up to $1,750,000 for the class as a whole. The available benefits are:Reimbursement of documented losses. Every class member can submit a claim for unreimbursed, out-of-pocket losses that are fairly traceable to the data breach — for example, unreimbursed fraud charges, credit-freeze or credit-report fees, or the cost of credit-monitoring services you already bought — up to a maximum of $5,500. This tier requires documentation.
Pro-rata cash payment for the Social Security number subclass. If your Social Security number was involved, you can also receive a cash payment from the separate $2,000,000 subclass fund. Because the payment is pro-rata, the exact amount depends on how many people in the subclass file valid claims and could be higher or lower.
Two years of credit monitoring. Every class member is eligible to enroll in two years of credit monitoring, valued at approximately $120 per year, regardless of whether they claim any cash.
What Proof Do I Need?
Filing the claim requires the unique Class Member ID printed on your mailed settlement notice. Because the claim is gated on that administrator-issued identifier, this settlement is treated as proof-required: a person who never received a notice cannot simply file without it.If you are claiming reimbursement of out-of-pocket losses, you also need to attach supporting documentation — receipts, bank or credit card statements, or similar records showing the loss and that it is connected to the breach. The credit monitoring and the Social Security number subclass cash payment do not require loss documentation, but they still require your Class Member ID. If you believe you are a class member but cannot locate your Class Member ID, you can request it through the official settlement website rather than filing blind.
Important Dates
• Data Breach: Unauthorized access between March 8 and March 16, 2023
• Exclusion (Opt-Out) & Objection Deadline: June 12, 2026
• Final Approval Hearing: May 28, 2026
• Claim Deadline: July 13, 2026
Dates can change if the court adjusts the schedule. Check the official settlement website for the current deadlines before you file.
How to File a Claim
File your claim online at ChattanoogaHeartSettlement.com. You will need the Class Member ID from your settlement notice, and, if you are claiming out-of-pocket losses, your supporting documentation. The deadline to file is July 13, 2026. If you do nothing, you will not receive a payment or the credit monitoring, and you give up your right to sue Chattanooga Heart Institute on your own over this incident.Related Data Breach Settlements
If you are tracking medical data breach settlements, several others are open right now, including the Cardiovascular Consultants data breach settlement, another cardiology-practice breach, and the Illinois Bone and Joint Institute data breach settlement. You can also browse the full data breach settlements tracker to see which claim windows are still open.Sources
• Official Settlement Website — ChattanoogaHeartSettlement.com• Class Action Settlement Notice, Cahill, et al. v. Memorial Heart Institute, LLC d/b/a The Chattanooga Heart Institute, Case No. 1:23-cv-00168-CLC-CHS (U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee)
• HIPAA Journal — $3.75M Settlement Resolves Data Breach Lawsuit Against Chattanooga Heart Institute
• Chattanooga Times Free Press — $3.75M settlement reached over Chattanooga Heart Institute data breach
OpenClassActions.com is a consumer news site and is not the settlement administrator or a law firm.
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Settlement Amount
$3,750,000
Case Title
Cahill, et al. v. Memorial Heart Institute, LLC d/b/a The Chattanooga Heart Institute
Case Number
1:23-cv-00168-CLC-CHS
Court
U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Tennessee
Final Approval Hearing
May 28, 2026
Official Website
Chattanooga Heart Settlement.com
