Two months after a cyberattack on a United国产精品视频 Group subsidiary halted payments to some doctors, medical providers say they’re still grappling with the fallout, even though United国产精品视频 told shareholders on Tuesday that business is largely back to normal.
鈥淲e are still desperately struggling,鈥 said , a therapist in Edina, Minnesota, who runs her own practice, Beginnings & Beyond. 鈥淭his was way more devastating than covid ever was.鈥
Change 国产精品视频care, a business unit of the Minnesota-based insurance giant United国产精品视频 Group, controls a digital network so vast it processes nearly 1 in 3 U.S. patient records each year. The network is a critical conduit for shuttling information between most of the nation鈥檚 insurance companies and medical providers, who submit claims through it to get paid for treating patients.
For Benson, the cyberattack continues to significantly disrupt her business and her ability to pay her seven other clinicians.
Before the hack brought down the system, an insurance company would process a provider鈥檚 claim, then send a type of receipt known as an 鈥渆lectronic remittance,鈥 which details the amount the provider was paid and whether the claim was denied. Without it, providers don鈥檛 know if they were paid correctly or how much to bill patients.
Now, instead of automatically handling those receipts digitally, some insurers must send forms in the mail. The forms require manual entry, which Benson said is a time-consuming process because it requires her to match up service dates and details to divvy up pay among her clinicians. And from at least one insurer, she said, she has yet to receive any remittances.
鈥淚鈥檓 holding on to my sanity by a thread,鈥 Benson said.
The situation is so dire, , a urologist who owns a practice in New York City, said he had to transfer money from his personal accounts to pay his office bills.
鈥淟ook, I am freaking out,鈥 Shteynshlyuger said. 鈥淓veryone is freaking out. We are like monkeys in a cage. We can鈥檛 really do anything about it.鈥
Roughly 30% of his claims were routed through Change鈥檚 platform. Except for Medicare and certain Blue Cross plans, he said, he has been unable to submit claims or receive payment from any insurers.
The company is encouraging struggling providers to reach out to the company directly via , said Tyler Mason, vice president of communications for United国产精品视频 Group.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think we鈥檝e had a single provider that hasn鈥檛 been helped that鈥檚 contacted us.鈥 As part of that help, Mason said, United国产精品视频 has sent providers $7 billion so far.
Ever since the February cyberattack forced United国产精品视频 to disconnect its Change platform, the company has been working 鈥渄ay and night to restore services鈥 and has made 鈥渟ubstantial progress,鈥 United国产精品视频 CEO Andrew Witty told shareholders April 16.
鈥淲e see a fairly normal claims receipts and payments flow going on at this point,” Chief Financial Officer John Rex said during the shareholder call. 鈥淏ut we鈥檒l really want to be careful on that because we know there are certain care providers out there that may have been left out of it.鈥
Rex said the company expects full operations to resume next year.
The company reported that the hacking has already cost it $870 million and that leaders expect the final tally to total at least $1 billion this year. To put that in perspective, the company reported $99.8 billion in revenue for the first quarter of 2024, an 8.6% increase over that period last year.
Meanwhile, the House Energy and Commerce 国产精品视频 Subcommittee held a hearing April 16 seeking answers on the severity and damage the cyberattack caused to the nation鈥檚 health system.
Subcommittee chair (R-Ky.) said a provider in his hometown is still grappling with the fallout from the attack and losing staff because they can’t make payroll. Providers 鈥渟till haven’t been made whole,鈥 Guthrie said.
Rep. (D-N.J.) voiced concern that a 鈥渟ingle point of failure鈥 reverberated around the country, disrupting patients鈥 access and providers鈥 financial stability.
Lawmakers expressed frustration that United国产精品视频 failed to send a representative to the Capitol to answer their questions. The committee had sent Witty a list of detailed questions ahead of the hearing but was still awaiting answers.
As providers wait, too, they are trying to cover the gaps. To pay her practice鈥檚 bills, Benson said, she had to take out a nearly $40,000 loan 鈥 from a division of United国产精品视频.
