Mich. A.G. Nessel Urges UnitedHealth Group to Help Patients and Providers Harmed by Cyberattack on Change Healthcare
On
"Cyberattacks in the healthcare sector are becoming frighteningly frequent," Nessel said. "It is the duty of organizations that hold our most personal and sensitive data to vigorously defend against cyberattacks, and when they fail in that defense they should take all reasonable efforts to protect the patients they left vulnerable. The steps we are requesting should be as commonplace as the attacks on personal health data have become. I proudly stand with my colleagues in asking
Nessel and the bipartisan coalition call upon
* Enhance and expand financial assistance, free of onerous terms, to all affected providers, facilities, and pharmacies.
* Ensure their financial assistance programs are not providing more advantageous financial assistance to providers, practices, or facilities that are owned by
* Shield the business information of providers and pharmacies from United's other corporate lines of business.
* Suspend requirements for prior authorizations, contemporaneous notifications of change of status, and other documentation requirements.
* Provide a dedicated help line for providers, facilities, pharmacies, and state Attorneys General.
* Proactively inform providers, facilities, pharmacies, and industry groups associated with each, of the steps they can take to preserve claims and receive prompt reimbursement.
* Expeditiously resolve the claims backlog and ensure prompt reimbursement of claims.
* Ensure providers, facilities, pharmacies, regulators, affected patients, and the public are informed of what data was compromised and what steps, if any, are needed for providers and patients to mitigate future identity theft or systems risks.
In contrast, many hospitals and clinics are operating under tremendous financial strain, relying upon critical infrastructure such as
Joining AG Nessel in sending the letter to
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To: Mr.
Re: Change Healthcare Disruptions
Dear Mr. Witty:
The undersigned Attorneys General write to express our concern with
On
On
As of United's
Since
Though providers and facilities who directly contract with
To date, both
The undersigned Attorneys General are writing to inform you that you have an obligation to take action to limit the harm to our states' care providers and patients. Immediate steps must be taken to protect our care infrastructure for the duration of the outage and in the weeks following while Change, United, and all other plans and providers work through the backlog of claims:
* Enhance and expand financial assistance to all affected providers, facilities, and pharmacies. We understand that some initial onerous terms, such as a waiver of claims, have been removed. Obtaining financial assistance should not require an affected entity to agree to choice of law, choice of venue, statute of limitations, or other onerous terms. We encourage Change to further revise its terms to provide longer pay back periods and permit repayment through offsets of claims paid.
* Ensure your financial assistance programs are not providing more advantageous financial assistance to providers, practices, or facilities that are owned by United or one of its subsidiaries.
* Shield the business information of providers and pharmacies from United's other corporate lines of business (e.g., Optum as a provider and United as an insurer).
* Suspend requirements for prior authorizations, contemporaneous notifications of change of status, and other documentation requirements, the absence of which United would ordinarily use as a basis to deny claims and encourage other carriers to do the same.
* Provide a dedicated help line for providers, facilities, and pharmacies to resolve unanswered questions or stalled claims, and adequately staff it such that questions are resolved promptly.
* Provide a dedicated complaint resolution mechanism for state Attorneys General and relevant state agencies.
* Proactively inform providers, facilities, pharmacies, and industry groups associated with each, of the steps they can take to preserve claims and receive prompt reimbursement.
* Expeditiously resolve the claims backlog and ensure prompt reimbursement of claims.
* Ensure providers, facilities, pharmacies, regulators, affected patients, and the public are informed of what data was compromised and what steps, if any, are needed for providers and patients to mitigate future identity theft or systems risks.
* Provide to the undersigned offices independent analysis confirming your companies' systems are secure and the vulnerabilities that contributed to the cyberattack have been addressed.
* Identify the specific steps you are taking to expeditiously resolve the claims backlog and ensure prompt reimbursement of claims and provide an update as to what percentage of providers are fully reconnected to Change.
While we expect that your companies will take these actions, please understand that this letter should not be construed as a settlement offer, waiver, or suspension of any ongoing or contemplated investigations or other legal action that the undersigned Attorneys General may take against your companies. The undersigned expressly reserve all rights available to them.
We trust that, after receiving this letter, your companies will work with the Attorneys General to assist our providers, pharmacies, and patients who have been adversely affected by the cyberattack.
We look forward to a prompt update on your efforts.
Sincerely,
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BRIAN L SCHWALB
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Hawaii Attorney General
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Footnotes:
1/
2/Id.
3/
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5/Optum,
6/
7/
8/Id.
9/Id.
10/Before UHG bought Change, Change concluded that the "healthcare system, and how payers and providers interact and transact, would not work without
25, https://www.justice.gov/atr/case- document/file/1476901/dl#:~:text=Change's%20internal%20business%20documents%20recogni ze,payers%20and%20providers%20interact%20and; Opening Slides at 10, https://www.justice.gov/media/1235956/dl?inline;
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Original text here: https://www.michigan.gov/ag/news/press-releases/2024/04/26/ag-nessel-urges-unitedhealth-group-to-help-patients-and-providers-harmed-by-cyberattack
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