Physician group asks US to make funds available to doctors hurt by Change hack

[March 05, 2024]  By Michael Erman

(Reuters) -Influential U.S. doctors' group the American Medical Association (AMA) on Monday asked the Biden Administration to make emergency funds available to physicians hurt by ongoing problems created by the hack of UnitedHealth's Change Healthcare unit.

The AMA said the cyberattack on Change, which provides healthcare billing and data systems, has led to disruptions of numerous administrative and billing processes at physician practices. They said that many practices have not been able to submit insurance claims for reimbursement since the hack was disclosed on Feb. 21.

"We urge HHS to utilize any available emergency funds and authorities to provide critical financial resources to physicians, ensuring they can continue to deliver essential healthcare services during these challenging times," AMA Chief Executive James Madara wrote in a letter to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra.

AMA President Jesse Ehrenfeld said that as of Monday evening HHS had initiated a dialogue with his group and they are jointly assessing what can be done to ease some of the cash flow problems for physicians.

"Many practices don't carry reserves, they're totally dependent on claims being paid," Ehrenfeld said in an interview.

"We are very worried as an association about small practices, our safety net practices, rural practices, and other less resource practices that often are taking care of underserved communities that just don't have a lot of capacity to withstand interruptions."

The American Medical Association logo is seen at their office in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 30, 2020. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File Photo

U.S. Senator Charles Schumer has also written to the top U.S. Medicare official to ask that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) make accelerated and advanced payments available to impacted hospitals, pharmacies, and providers.

"Hospitals, pharmacies, and healthcare providers are facing an immediate - and rapidly intensifying - adverse impact on their cash flow and, ultimately, on their financial solvency," Schumer wrote to CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure on Friday.

The Change hack was perpetrated by hackers who identified themselves as the "Blackcat" ransomware group. Change said last week it had enabled a new version of its ePrescribing service for all its customers, more than a week after it reported a hack that had a knock-on effect on players across the U.S. healthcare system.

(Reporting by Michael ErmanEditing by Bill Berkrot)

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