Almost all US hospitals took financial hit from Change hack, AHA says
30/04/2024 21:53
By Amina Niasse
NEW YORK, April 30 (Reuters) - Almost all U.S. hospitals
were hurt financially by the cyberattack on United Health
Group’s UNH.N Change Healthcare unit earlier this year,
according to a survey from the American Hospital Association
(AHA).
The AHA said that 94% of hospitals reported damage to
cash flow and more than half reported significant or serious
financial damage due to Change's inability to process claims.
"While this event had disparate impacts on providers, all
communities felt the effects in some way," the AHA wrote in a
letter to leadership of the U.S. Senate Finance and House Energy
and Commerce committees.
The association, which represents almost 5,000 hospitals and
healthcare systems in the United States, sent the letter on
Monday ahead of Wednesday's Congressional hearings on
cybersecurity vulnerabilities in the healthcare sector.
UnitedHealth CEO Andrew Witty is slated to testify before
both committees following weeks of disruption to American
healthcare since the insurer's Change Healthcare unit was
hacked.
The hearings follow a security probe by the U.S. government
into Change Healthcare, which operates the country's largest
payment management system for healthcare providers.
On the morning of Feb. 21, the cybercriminal gang AlphV, aka
BlackCat, locked up Change Healthcare's systems and demanded a
ransom to unlock them, Witty will tell the House panel,
according to a copy of his written testimony posted to the
panel's website on Monday.
UnitedHealth Group has made $6.5 billion in accelerated
payments and loans to providers, including hospitals, since the
February attack, the CEO will testify.
The AHA said in a separate announcement on Tuesday that some
providers have had to take out high-interest loans, despite the
cash infusions from the healthcare giant.
"UnitedHealth Group and other insurers have held on to
premium dollars, collecting as-yet unknown amounts of interest
on what they have not paid out to providers," the AHA wrote to
Congress on Monday.
(Reporting by Amina Niasse; Editing by MIchael Erman)
((amina.niasse@thomsonreuters.com;))