CMS ending accelerated and advance payments issued after Change cyberattack
CMS has paid over $2.5 billion to Part A hospitals and more than $717 million to Part B physicians, suppliers and others.
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The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is ending accelerated payments to providers and suppliers that were affected by the Change Healthcare cyberattack.
CMS has announced that payments under the Accelerated and Advance Payment Program for the Change Healthcare/Optum Payment Disruption (CHOPD) will conclude on July 12.
The payment disruption program addressed Medicare funding issues, providing a financial lifeline to Medicare providers and suppliers, CMS said.
WHY THIS MATTERS
The Change Healthcare cyberattack of February 21 showed the vulnerability of an interconnected health system.
Change, which is owned by Optum whose parent company is UnitedHealth Group, took Change's healthcare electronic data interchange offline after it discovered the attack. As the majority of hospitals and numerous physician practices in the country use Change's claims payments system, the disconnection disrupted payment and affected provider revenue.
The American Hospitals Association said the attack had a financial impact for 94% of hospitals. Over three-quarters of physician practices suffered "severe disruptions, according to the American Medical Association.
CMS launched the accelerated and advance payments in early March to ease cash flow disruptions for hospitals, physicians and pharmacists.
Since its launch, accelerated payments have been issued to over 4,200 Part A hospitals providers, totaling more than $2.55 billion. CMS also issued 4,722 advance payments, totaling more than $717.18 million, to Part B suppliers, including doctors, nonphysician practitioners and durable medical equipment suppliers.
Change has given regular updates as it has worked to bring systems back online. The cyberattack was ransomware, with UnitedHealth CEO Andrew Witty making the decision to pay $22 million in bitcoin ransom to protect patient information.
Providers of services and suppliers are now successfully billing Medicare, CMS said. To date, the agency has already recovered over 96% of the CHOPD payments.
THE LARGER TREND
After July 12, CMS will no longer accept new applications for CHOPD accelerated or advance payments.
Any providers of services or suppliers that are having difficulty billing or receiving payment are asked to contact Change by visiting https://www.unitedhealthgroup.com/ns/changehealthcare.html and/or their Medicare Administrative Contractor.
CMS said it would continue to monitor for other effects of the cyberattack on Medicare providers of services and suppliers and will continue to engage industry partners to address any remaining issues or concerns. CMS encourages all providers of services and suppliers, technology vendors and other members of the healthcare ecosystem to double down on cybersecurity, with urgency.
ON THE RECORD
"In the face of one of the most widespread cyberattacks on the U.S. healthcare industry, CMS promptly took action to get providers and suppliers access to the funds they needed to continue providing patients with vital care," said CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure. "Our efforts helped minimize the disruptive fallout from this incident, and we will remain vigilant to be ready to address future events."
Email the writer: SMorse@himss.org
