Change Healthcare cyberattack update: CMS to end payment relief program

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced that it will soon end the financial assistance program spurred by the Change Healthcare cyberattack.

The agency plans to wrap up the Accelerated and Advance Payment (AAP) Program on July 12.

“In the face of one of the most widespread cyberattacks on the U.S. health care industry, CMS promptly took action to get providers and suppliers access to the funds they needed to continue providing patients with vital care,” CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure said. “Our efforts helped minimize the disruptive fallout from this incident, and we will remain vigilant to be ready to address future events.” 

Change Healthcare, a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group’s Optum unit, is a clearinghouse for 15 billion medical claims per year, according to a Congressional report, and the February ransomware attack caused cash flow turmoil for thousands of clinicians. UnitedHealth Group said that on June 20 it will begin notifying those who had protected information compromised by the breach. The company will start with direct business partners, such as insurers or health care providers, and plans to then move on to notifying individual patients in late July.

According to CMS, the AAP program issued more than 4,722 advanced payments totaling $717.18 million to Medicare Part-B providers affected by the cyberattack, and an additional $2.55 billion to Part-A providers, such as hospitals. The agency says clinicians should contact Change Healthcare directly if they’re still having trouble with billing or payment after the program stops taking applications on July 12.

United HealthGroup’s cyberattack response page says Change Healthcare had either fully or partially restored most services by the end of April. As of June 20, Optum Financial Services was still offering its own temporary funding assistance program for those affected by the Change Healthcare service disruptions.

— FPM Editors

Posted on June 20, 2024