UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) continues to make progress in mitigating the impact to consumers and care providers of the unprecedented cyberattack on the U.S. health system and the Change Healthcare services, while continuing to expand financial assistance to affected providers.
Today Change Healthcare will begin releasing medical claims preparation software, an important step in the resumption of services. This will be made available to thousands of customers over the next several days. The company expects to have third-party attestations available prior to services becoming operational. Following this initial phase, remaining services restoration will continue through ongoing phases of activation until all customers have been connected.
“We continue to make significant progress in restoring the services impacted by this cyberattack,” said Andrew Witty, CEO of UnitedHealth Group. “We know this has been an enormous challenge for health care providers and we encourage any in need to contact us.”
On March 15, the company restored Change Healthcare’s electronic payments platform and is proceeding with payer implementations. On March 7, the company restored 99% of Change Healthcare pharmacy network services, and continues to work on remaining issues.
To assist care providers whose finances have been disrupted by the cyberattack, the company has advanced more than $2 billion thus far through multiple initiatives. The company recognizes the high level of fragmentation of the U.S. health system can result in uneven experiences, therefore it continues to enhance and expand funding support to make it easier for care providers to access funding help at no cost. To further assist care providers, the company also suspended prior authorizations for most outpatient services and utilization review of inpatient admissions for Medicare Advantage plans.
Care providers in need of financial assistance are encouraged to register for the program at www.optum.com/temporaryfunding to view pre-populated funding assistance levels, and recommends those who are in need of additional support or help with eligibility utilize the temporary funding assistance inquiry form or call 1-877-702-3253.
The next call where the company will provide a detailed update with customers, care providers and their information security teams will be hosted later today. In addition, the company has launched a series of educational on-demand webinars to help providers and customers learn how to reconnect to our claims and payment networks and to explain how to take advantage of the temporary funding assistance programs.
About UnitedHealth Group
UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) is a health care and well-being company with a mission to help people live healthier lives and help make the health system work better for everyone through two distinct and complementary businesses. Optum delivers care aided by technology and data, empowering people, partners and providers with the guidance and tools they need to achieve better health. UnitedHealthcare offers a full range of health benefits, enabling affordable coverage, simplifying the health care experience and delivering access to high-quality care. Visit UnitedHealth Group at www.unitedhealthgroup.com and follow UnitedHealth Group on LinkedIn.
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