Unitedhealth had to pay US billion after suffering cyber attack

Unitedhealth had to pay US$3 billion after suffering cyber attack

Cyber ​​attack and loss of billions! The group UnitedHealth paid an additional amount of US$ 1 billion to providers affected by the cyber attack Change Healthcare since last week. As a result, they increased the total funds advanced to more than US$3.3 billionthe company said on Wednesday.

A UnitedHealthowner of Change Healthcare, discovered in February that a cyber threat actor had breached part of the unit’s information technology network. A Change Healthcare processes more than 15 billion billing transactions annually. Additionally, 1 in 3 patient records passes through its systems, according to its website.

The company disconnected the affected systems “immediately upon detection” of the threat, according to a filing with Securities and Exchange Commission from United States. The outages left many healthcare providers temporarily unable to fill prescriptions or receive reimbursement for their services from insurers.

Many healthcare providers depend on reimbursement cash flow to operate, so the consequences are being substantial. Smaller and mid-sized practices told CNBC who were making difficult decisions about how to stay afloat. A survey published by the American Hospital Association earlier this month found that 94% of hospitals experienced financial disruptions due to the attack.

Reimbursement for cyber attack

As a result, the UnitedHealth introduced its temporary financial assistance program to help providers in need of support. The company said the $3.3 billion in advances will not need to be repaid until claims flows return to normal. Federal agencies such as Service Centers Medicare It is Medicaid introduced additional options to ensure that states and other stakeholders can make interim payments to providers.

A UnitedHealth has been working to restore the Change Healthcare in recent weeks and expects some outages to continue through April, according to its website. The company began processing a backlog of more than $14 billion in claims on Friday, and on Wednesday said it “the demands began to flow”.

Source: Atrevida

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