Reuters reported Tuesday that White House officials met with UnitedHealth Group’s CEO Andrew Witty and others about the February cyber-attack on Change Healthcare, which processes half of all medical claims in the U.S., that disrupted data and financial communications between pharmacists, patients, and PBMs. On Feb. 27, UnitedHealth reported that 90 percent of American pharmacies had to adjust their claims processing to mitigate the attack, and pharmacy teams had to hustle to find work-arounds — all amid a sluggish initial response from PBMs who offered little to no guidance on how to push through the incident. But, that wasn’t the only communication breakdown. This week’s meeting at the White House was reportedly the first time hospitals and insurers gathered to evaluate their position, according to HHS, three weeks after the attack. Since the beginning, NCPA has been vocal about transparency and accountability, in contact with CMS to request coverage waivers, as well as with UnitedHealth to make it clear that pharmacies should not—and cannot—be left exposed.
NCPA
