Doctors are worried that the attack on Change Healthcare, part of UnitedHeathcare's Optum division, will mean they can't get paid properly for months.on a previously obscure medical payment processing company, Change Healthcare, Parsons said, she and her colleagues haven't been able to electronically bill for their services., California's Medicare payment processor, was not accepting paper claims as of earlier this week, she said.
The crisis will take time to resolve. Comparing the Change attack to others against parts of the health care system,"we have seen it generally takes a minimum of 30 days to restore core systems," saidIn a March 7 statement, UnitedHealth Group said two services — related to electronic payments and medical claims — would be restored later in the month.
HHS spokesperson Jeff Nesbit said the administration"recognizes the impact" of the attack and is"actively looking at their authority to help support these critical providers at this time and working with states to do the same." He said Medicare is pressing UnitedHealth Group to"offer better options for interim payments to providers."
Health care leaders including state Medicaid directors have called on the Biden administration to treat the Change attack similarly to the pandemic — a threat to the health system so severe that it demands extraordinary flexibility on the part of government insurance programs and regulators.