The Change Healthcare cyber-attack led to significant business disruptions for pharmacies with few exceptions as a direct result of the vertically-integrated nature of UnitedHealth Group. That’s our position, and that’s precisely what we told members of Congress before two separate congressional hearings last week, both of which grilled UnitedHealth CEO Andrew Witty. Independent pharmacies are still struggling daily with operational and financial disruptions months after the incident. For its part, UnitedHealth Group has done the bare minimum to help pharmacy providers in the attack’s wake, echoing comments we supplied to Senate Finance Committee and the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.
“Too much of our health care system is being allowed to flow through gigantic corporate monsters like UnitedHealth. This unfortunate circumstance is proof-positive of that,” said NCPA CEO Douglas Hoey ahead of the hearings. “This entity rakes in a tremendous amount of cash, yet it arbitrarily denies or slow-walks patient care, under-reimburses providers and otherwise makes it difficult to provide health care services, and fails to protect itself and its customers from a catastrophic cyberattack.”
For a timeline of events related to the Change Healthcare cyber-attack from the perspective of independent pharmacy, click here. For examples of the attack’s effect on patients in North Carolina, click here. And, stay tuned to qAM as we continue to cover the cyber-attack and its aftermath.
