Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
CMS To Assist Providers Squeezed By Ransomware Outage At Change
Modern Healthcare: CMS Offers Relief To Providers Affected By Change Healthcare Outage
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has rolled out efforts to help providers navigate the Change Healthcare outage disrupting healthcare operations nationwide, the Health and Human Services Department announced Tuesday. CMS ordered its claims administrators to assist pharmacies, hospitals and others that need to use alternate means to process transactions while Change Healthcare, part of UnitedHealth Group's Optum subsidiary, works to get its systems back online following a Feb. 21 cyberattack. (Berryman, 3/5)
Bloomberg: UnitedHealth Unit Hack Muddies Humana’s View Of Care Expenses
The cyberattack on a UnitedHealth Group Inc. data service is making it harder for health insurers across the industry to gauge their medical care expenses, Humana Inc. executives said Tuesday. About 15% to 20% of Humana’s medical claims submitted by providers flow through Change Healthcare systems before they reach the insurer, Humana Chief Financial Officer Susan Diamond said at an investor conference. (Tozzi, 3/5)
Axios: Change Cyberattack Spawns Threat Of Patient Lawsuits
The cyber attack on Change Healthcare that's reverberated across the medical system is now spawning threats of litigation from patients. Patients left scrambling to determine if insurance will cover drugs or treatments could seek damages from the UnitedHealth Group subsidiary, whose stricken payment network is a mainstay of hospitals, pharmacies and physician offices and processes 15 billion transactions annually. (Reed, 3/6)
The Washington Post: How The Change Healthcare Hack Affects Your Prescription Access
Patients tell stories of being billed hundreds or more than a thousand dollars for prescriptions that previously were covered by insurance. Some can’t get their prescriptions filled at all and drug company discount coupons also may not be working right now. (Cimons, Beard and Amenabar, 3/5)
Reuters: 'Exit Scam' - Hackers That Hit UnitedHealth Pull Disappearing Act
The hackers responsible for the breach at UnitedHealth Group appear to have pulled a disappearing act on Tuesday, leaving their cybercriminal associates in the lurch and replacing their old website with a bogus statement from law enforcement. The U.S. insurer disclosed on Feb. 21 that Blackcat hacking gang - also known as ALPHV - had perpetrated a cyberattack on its technology unit Change Healthcare, causing disruptions across the U.S. healthcare system. (Pearson and Bing, 3/5)
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Crain's Chicago Business: Lurie Children's Hospital Reactivates Electronic Health Records
Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital said it has reactivated its electronic health record (EHR) platform, among other systems, and has fully restored its phones after a cyberattack that forced the hospital to shut down its entire network in late January. However, patients do not yet have access to the electronic portal MyChart, Lurie said. Patients and their families use MyChart for interactions including sending questions to providers, scheduling, reordering prescriptions, viewing test results and reviewing records. (Asplund, 3/5)
