Healthcare providers across the United States are struggling to get paid following the week-long ransomware outage at a key tech unit of UnitedHealth Group, with some smaller providers saying they are already running low on cash.
Large hospital chains are also locked out of processing payments with some absorbing the upfront costs of being unable to collect, according to the American Hospital Association (AHA), which represents nearly 5,000 hospitals, healthcare systems, networks and other providers.
Reuters could not gauge the full magnitude of the problem, but six small businesses across the United States - five therapists and one laboratory - said they were unable to process claims and were racking up thousands of dollars in overdue payments.
The problems began last week after hackers gained access to UnitedHealth's Change Healthcare unit, a vital lynchpin in the complex U.S. system for making and clearing insurance claims. It also affected electronic pharmacy refills and insurance transactions, particularly among independents, with some reverting to paper transactions.
"We are 100 percent down when it comes to billing right now," said Phil Seubring, legal director at Forensic Fluids, a Kalamazoo, Michigan lab that does drug testing for doctors' offices.
"I'm not getting paid," said Jenna Wolfson, a Felton, California-based clinical social worker who provides therapy to about 30 clients a week. She said she had about $4,000 in claims in limbo. "This could be catastrophic for me and other small business mental health practitioners."
The early impact may hit small offices harder, but providers of all sizes will feel the strain if the outage persists, John Riggi, AHA cybersecurity adviser and a former section chief for the FBI's cyber division, told Reuters.
"Larger, more well-resourced hospitals that have alternate technologies and sufficient cash reserves will be able to sustain the outage initially and on a longer basis," he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.