More than two weeks after the cyberattack, cash-strapped doctors, hospitals and medical service providers on Friday sharply criticized UnitedHealth Group’s latest move. estimate that it will take weeks to fully restore a digital network that provides hundreds of millions of dollars in insurance payments every day.
UnitedHealth said it will take at least two more weeks to test and establish a steady flow of payments for bills that have risen since hackers effectively shut down Change Healthcare, the nation’s largest billing and payment clearinghouse, last Feb. 21.
But desperate providers borrowing money to cover expenses and employee payrolls expressed skepticism about that estimate, worrying it could be months before the claims and payment logjam is cleared.
“We had about a three-week gap in cash flow,” said Brad Larsen, a psychologist and founder of Portland Mental Health & Wellness in Oregon, adding that the group has received only about 10 percent of expected insurance payments. He said the practice needed to borrow $300,000 to meet the first of two payrolls for the month. “Not beautiful.”
In an apparent move to reinvigorate some providers who expressed frustration with United’s earlier remedy to a loan program that offered stopgap payments of as little as $20 a week, the parent company agreed to -issue of advances. United announced that its insurer, the largest in the United States, will begin advancing payments to hospitals and doctors based on amounts billed before the cyberattack.
And because Change manages one out of every three patient records in the US — amounting to 15 billion transactions a year, the cyberattack affected not only United’s clients but many other insurers as well. That’s what led the UnitedHealth executive to recommend that they also offer advances. “To me, that’s the fastest way to get money into the hands of the providers,” Dirk McMahon, United’s president and chief operating officer, said in an interview. .
The depth of the cyberattack, which paralyzed billing and payments from the simplest prescriptions at a pharmacy to the most expensive operations, has rattled industry and government. Some have expressed concerns that the worst is far from over, fearing that the ransomware attack has compromised patient data.
UnitedHealth Group declined to comment on whether its insured’s information – whether financial or medical or through coverage at pharmacies, hospitals or clinics – was hacked. Its only response was to say it was continuing to cooperate with law enforcement agencies in the investigation into the attack. FBI and US cybersecurity experts are conducting an inquiry.
On March 1, a Bitcoin address connected to the suspected hackers, a group known as AlphV or BlackCat, received a $22 million transaction that several security firms said may have been a ransom payment made by United to the group, according to a news article on Wired. United declined to comment, as it did Recorded Tomorrowthe security firm that first saw the payment.
“United has not been forthcoming about what information was released to the hackers,” said Ed Tilley, a licensed clinical social worker in Charlotte, N.C. Among the information he typically submits for billing to the Change network is the date of birth and diagnosis of a patient. . “If my patients’ identifying information is disclosed, I feel an obligation to tell them,” he said.
Since the cyberattack became public, UnitedHealth Group’s stock has fallen 7.7 percent.
UnitedHealth Group said payments would only begin to be available around March 15 and that it would begin testing and establishing connections that allow hospitals and doctors to submit claims the week of March 18. But Mr. McMahon that this timeframe is subject to change. “We’re in a very fluid environment,” he said.
“We’re hustling like crazy to get these systems out,” Mr. McMahon said.
Although most of the gaps in the pharmacy transaction appear to be resolved, he suggested that hospitals and doctors should continue to look for solutions. But for some providers, that means switching to Change’s competitors, which are now flooded with new claims and struggling to manage increased workloads.
“I submitted some claims in the new system, which took me a few hours, and then I was like, ‘Where are they?'” and this bubble came up saying, ‘No one can answer you right now,’ ” Angela said. Belleville, a mental health counselor in Salem, Mass. “I tried again yesterday and the system was completely frozen.”
Other major insurers were largely silent on whether they would issue advances, as Mr. McMahon suggested, or offer other relief.
“It’s become crickets,” said Chip Kahn, the president of the Federation of American Hospitals, which represents for-profit hospitals. As the money from previously submitted claims begins to dry up, “you’re at risk,” he said.
Smaller businesses, in particular, aren’t sitting on piles of cash that could bring them down while they wait for renewed reimbursements.
“We’re past the two-week mark now, and people are starting to worry,” said Maggie Williams, the co-owner of Flourish Business Solutions, which advises medical billing practices.
He said he is getting calls from doctors who are concerned that they may not be able to make payroll or that they will eventually have to stop providing services to patients in the coming weeks. “Many times, there are no reserves to maintain services or payroll,” he said.
In a statement, the American Hospital Association, a trade group, said, “Nothing in the announcement materially changes the chronic cash flow implications and uncertainty our nation’s hospitals and doctors are experiencing as a result.” The group also said it will be “weeks – if not months – before our hospitals and other health care providers will be fully operational.”
The powerful hospital lobby is among those calling on federal officials to ease these pressures by speeding up Medicare payments to providers, similar to efforts made during the pandemic to relieve hospitals. and doctors.
This week, the Department of Health and Human Services announced a series of measures, including an attempt to advance Medicare payments to providers. The department urged private insurers to do the same and called on private Medicare plans to relax or waive much-criticized prior authorization rules that make it harder for providers to get paid for care.
UnitedHealthcare also announced that it will also relax prior authorization requirements for its Medicare Advantage policies through the end of March.
Beyond news of the damage caused by the cyberattack, the closing of parts of Change Healthcare has brought renewed attention to the consolidation of medical companies, physician groups and other entities under UnitedHealth Group. Change by United’s acquisition of a $13 billion deal in 2022 was initially challenged by federal prosecutors but went ahead after the government lost its case.
On Friday, providers seeking advice or assistance from a customer support person at Change Healthcare were instead greeted with a recorded message: “Due to unforeseen circumstances, we are unable to answer your call at now. Please try your call again later. Thank you for calling.” And then the call hung up.
