Author: Amina Niasse and Bhanvi Satija
(Reuters) – UnitedHealth Group asked health care providers to repay loans they received from the company last year after a cyberattack by its technology division Change Change Healthcare.
One of the largest health insurance companies in the United States lends $9 billion, and the providers that have struggled after a massive ransomware attack last February shut down payment and processing systems, some of which took months to recover.
Healthcare providers said they have received emails from UnitedHealth’s Optum division in recent months asking for full repayment and threatening to withhold reimbursement.
The Wall Street Journal first reported the news.
UnitedHealth’s Change Healthcare Division said in a statement it plans to make repayment options “with providers.”
“Now, more than a year after the event, as the service resumes, we have begun to recover the free interest funds we provide to our providers,” a change healthcare spokesperson said.
The initial agreement stipulates that failure to repay could result in payments, but they described the terms as taking advantage of the providers after hacking.
Catherine Mazzola, CEO of the New Jersey Institute for Pediatric Neurosciences in Morristown, New Jersey, said her practice habits have been docked, totaling $68,000 from February 19 to March 29, totaling $68,000.
Mazzola said the seizure was reimbursement for the New Jersey Medicaid program. She said her practice borrowed two loans of $35,000 and $500,000.
A statement to Mazzola said: “The amounts due in this statement have been used to repay the amounts owed under your agreement.”
Mazzola added that she has paid $40,000 for her practice since the hack.
Another provider, Christine Myer, said she received a letter on April 1 asking for full payment within five working days. She said her primary care clinic made $756,000 after struggling to keep hacking after struggling to keep hacking.
UnitedHealth previously issued a notice saying that as of October 15, the $3.2 billion loan to providers had been repaid.
The changing violation is the largest health care data breach in the United States, affecting the personal information of nearly 200 million people. It has caused widespread damage in claims processing, affecting patients and providers across the country.
(Reports by Bhanvi Satija in Bangalore and Amina Niasse in New York; Editing by Mohammed Safi Shamsi, Caroline Humer and Marguerita Choy)
