Security News UnitedHealth confirms Optum hack behind US healthcare billing outage

[Gandalf_The_Grey]

Content source

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/unitedhealth-confirms-optum-hack-behind-us-healthcare-billing-outage/

Healthcare giant UnitedHealth Group confirmed that its subsidiary Optum was forced to shut down IT systems and various services after a cyberattack by “nation-state” hackers on the Change Healthcare platform.

United Health Group (UHG) is a health insurance company with a presence across all 50 US states. The organization is the world's largest healthcare company by revenue ($324.2 billion in 2022), employing 440,000 people worldwide.

Its subsidiary, Optum Solutions, operates the Change Healthcare platform, which is the largest payment exchange platform between doctors, pharmacies, healthcare providers, and patients in the US healthcare system.

In response to the situation, the American Hospital Association (AHA) issued a warning yesterday recommending that all healthcare organizations that rely on Optum solutions disconnect their systems immediately to protect their partners' and patients' data.

"We recommend that all health care organizations that were disrupted or are potentially exposed by this incident consider disconnection from Optum until it is independently deemed safe to reconnect to Optum," warned the American Hospital Association.

UnitedHealth confirms Optum hack behind US healthcare billing outage

Healthcare giant UnitedHealth Group confirmed that its subsidiary Optum was forced to shut down IT systems and various services after a cyberattack by "nation-state" hackers on the Change Healthcare platform.

www.bleepingcomputer.com

 

[vtqhtr413]

US prescription market hamstrung for 9 days (so far) by ransomware attack

Patients having trouble getting lifesaving meds have the AlphV crime group to thank.

arstechnica.com

Nine days after a Russian-speaking ransomware syndicate took down the biggest US health care payment processor, pharmacies, health care providers, and patients were still scrambling to fill prescriptions for medicines, many of which are lifesaving.

On Thursday, UnitedHealth Group accused a notorious ransomware gang known both as AlphV and Black Cat of hacking its subsidiary Optum. Optum provides a nationwide network called Change Healthcare, which allows health care providers to manage customer payments and insurance claims. With no easy way for pharmacies to calculate what costs were covered by insurance companies, many had to turn to alternative services or offline methods.

 

[vtqhtr413]

UnitedHealth Group said Monday that it’s paid out more than $2 billion to help health-care providers who have been affected by the cyberattack on subsidiary Change Healthcare. “We continue to make significant progress in restoring the services impacted by this cyberattack,” UnitedHealth CEO Andrew Witty said in a press release. “We know this has been an enormous challenge for health care providers and we encourage any in need to contact us.”

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/18/unitedhealth-group-paid-more-than-2-billion-to-providers-after-attack.html