The Biden Administration is asking UnitedHealth to expedite payments to health care providers after a recent cyberattack caused weeks of disruptions to its subsidiary, Change Healthcare.
In an open letter, officials from from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Labor urged UnitedHealth to "take responsibility to ensure no provider is compromised by their cash flow challenges stemming from this cyberattack."
The letter also asked the healthcare giant to expedite funds to providers that weren't paid as a result of the incident.
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While the letter called out UnitedHealth specifically, it also asked others in the industry to help where possible. "While we believe payers have a unique responsibility and opportunity to address the challenge before us, we urge action on the part of any health care entity that can step up," the letter reads.
The hack, which occurred in February, affected parts of Change Healthcare's network that handle payments and medical claims. The system has been down for weeks, though UnitedHealth has said some services have been restored and other affected services will be back online starting in mid-March.
UnitedHealth has announced programs to aid healthcare providers facing cash flow interruptions from the failure of its Change Healthcare service, but some have called it inadequate or burdensome. Company representatives didn't answer questions Friday about how much money has been disbursed through those channels.
