The Maryland Department of Health has issued more than 500 advanced payments to providers who have been impacted by the cyberattack which crippled Change Healthcare’s systems and disrupted medical insurance payments for the past month.
MDH says it is trying to keep medical offices afloat as the payment interruptions have kept providers from paying their bills or employees.
“Our website has a dedicated email account along with other resources so that we can help them with whichever need they may have,” said Sara Barra, chief of staff for behavioral health at MDH. “If it’s advanced payments to help make payroll if it's technical assistance in changing their clearing house, we want to help.”
Change Healthcare, a subsidiary of Optum, which is owned by UnitedHealth Group, says it has $14 billion in backlogged payments due to the hack, which was perpetrated on Feb. 21.
The incident has disrupted insurance payments for providers all across the nation and affected critical medical systems in Maryland.
“All Optum has done, who owns Change Healthcare, is offer a really bad 10-day loan payment program as their solution,” said Gene Ransome, the CEO of the Maryland State Medical Society. “I don't understand why more people aren't screaming and yelling. This is a major risk to our whole health care system.”
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has been offering monetary assistance and is giving guidance to states for how to best handle advanced payment.
Change Healthcare processes 15 billion transactions a year and is one of the largest payment processors in the nation.
The Maryland Insurance Administration released a consumer advisory earlier this month stating that people who believe they are being improperly required to pay for services or medications in their health insurance should first contact their plans.
If the plans are unable to resolve the problem, residents can then file a complaint with the state.
Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra sent a letter to Change Healthcare urging them to take more responsibility for the cash flow issues.
“While we believe payers have a unique responsibility and opportunity to address the challenge before us, we urge action on the part of any health care entity that can step up,” Becerra wrote. “This incident is a reminder of the interconnectedness of the domestic health care ecosystem and of the urgency of strengthening cybersecurity resiliency across the ecosystem.”
Now Congress is getting involved. The Senate Finance Committee says it will hold a hearing with United HealthGroup CEO Andrew Witty.
Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) also introduced the Health Care Cybersecurity Improvement Act of 2024, which would require minimum cybersecurity standards in the payment system.
