Change Healthcare Cyberattack Updates
Providers affected by the Change Healthcare cybersecurity incident have received some welcome updates from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and UnitedHealth Group (UHG) (the parent of Change Healthcare). CMS announced flexibilities on March 15th to help state Medicaid agencies provide relief to affected Medicaid providers and protect access to health care coverage. In addition, UHG is making significant progress in restoring Change Healthcare's operations and loosening some of the terms of temporary funding for impacted providers.
In an Informational Bulletin, CMS announced that it is suspending enforcement of certain state plan amendment requirements, ensuring rapid timelines for approval, and allowing states to draw down federal funds to enable interim payments to affected Medicaid providers through June 30, 2024. CMS is also urging Medicaid managed care plans to make prospective payments to impacted providers and to work with providers to pay existing older claims already submitted.
UHG has announced that as of March 18th, it has restored its electronic payment platform, which will allow payers to process and disburse payments to providers using Automated Clearing House (ACH) and virtual credit cards. It began releasing medical claims preparation software with the goal of restoring claims processing this week. UHG has also updated repayment terms for its Temporary Funding Assistance Program, loosening some of the more restrictive requirements.
LeadingAge National advises members to re-check their eligibility status for funds through UHG and to look into interim funding assistance from other payers. For example, Highmark is offering interim financial assistance as of March 12th. More details on how to apply are available in the Highmark provider portal. Payers may also be working with an alternative clearinghouse and/or accepting paper claims.
More information and frequent updates are available from LeadingAge National here.
Contact: Karen Lipson, klipson@leadingageny.org