On February 21, Change Healthcare, a subsidiary of insurance giant UnitedHealth Group, announced that it had suffered a cyber attack. The company is An important part of the US healthcare systemprocesses billions of transactions annually and matches invoices to insurance coverage.
The attack paralyzed medical payments, impacting hospitals and patients in Florida and the United States. American Hospital Association It called it the most serious cyber attack on the country’s health system in history.
“If this goes against the national power grid, you’ll understand right away. If you’re talking about air traffic control towers,” said Mary Mayhew, president and CEO of the Florida Hospital Association. , the scale and impact will soon be understood.” This is the nation’s largest cyber attack on the healthcare delivery system. ”
Mayhew, who spoke about the cyberattack on Friday’s “Florida Roundup,” said the association has more than 100 hospitals that contract directly with Change Healthcare.
“The reality is that hospitals cannot bill for the care provided. And without cash flow, that impacts payroll and the ability to pay doctors, nurses and staff during surgeries.” ” Mayhew said.
He noted that the association’s members will have to delay payments to vendors due to a lack of cash.
“United Airlines is the largest, but many other insurance companies that rely on Change Healthcare to process hospital payments are also unable to pay, leaving hundreds of millions of dollars withheld from insurers.” she said.
Mayhew said the amount could exceed $1 billion a month after the cyberattack.
She continued: “If the situation gets to that point, some hospitals will certainly draw on their reserves as needed. But the smaller the hospital, the thinner the margins are, the more cash flow is already constrained. . This will add fuel to the fire.”
Change Healthcare also shares relationships with state governments and Medicaid programs.
“They do a lot of the processes for state governments around eligibility determination and long-term care evaluation that don’t get a lot of attention or visibility. So the ripple effect, the domino effect, is significant,” Mayhew said. Told.
Its domino effect is felt directly by patients and people. Unable to obtain or pay for life-saving medications out of pocket.
Mayhew also said there was no doubt that patient data had been compromised in a cyberattack. But she pointed out that patients should not be alarmed or worried when receiving treatment.
“If a patient has a scheduled procedure, needs to see a doctor, or needs to go to the emergency room, there is nothing that prevents them from doing it and getting the services they need with confidence. ,” she said.
On Thursday, UnitedHealth Group Timeline To restore Change Healthcare systems and services. At this time, electronic prescriptions with bill submission and payment submission are back online. The organization said it is working to get prescriptions to patients in the meantime.
According to the timeline, the company’s electronic payment platform will be available starting Friday. The company plans to begin testing and re-establishing connectivity to its medical billing network on March 18th. Service is expected to be restored through the week.
Mr Mayhew said there were signs that the cash crunch would continue for several more weeks, and even if the system were to start operating again, there was no guarantee it would be smooth sailing.
“At some point, hospitals may be faced with the fact that they will have to reschedule electives that are safe to postpone, just as we did in the early days of the (COVID-19) pandemic. ” Mayhew said. We’re not there yet. And hospitals are very reluctant to go there. But at the end of the day, if we can’t get additional financial relief from the federal government, prepayments, Medicare, Congress, that’s going to be part of the equation. ”
For advance payment, March 5th press release The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services states that “facilities may submit requests for early payment to their respective service providers (Medicare administrative contractors) for individual consideration.”
Optum, part of UnitedHealth Group, also launched a loan program called the Temporary Financial Assistance Program.of the group said We provide cash flow to providers who receive payments from payers processed by Change Healthcare. But Mayhew said one hospital said the program covers only 2% of a typical net payment from United Airlines.
otherscontains Medical Group Management Association, is calling on the government to accelerate payments for doctors’ services. Mayhew said these practices and other health care providers are particularly affected by cyberattacks.
“And because they’re smaller, they have less flexibility to act without payment. Hospitals get paid every day through these claims processing clearinghouses, and they budget around those daily payments.” Mayhew said. But like I said, the smaller ones probably aren’t. ”
This cyberattack also illustrates the vulnerability of the U.S. health care system. Mayhew called it an attack on the nation’s infrastructure.
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