UnitedHealth makes doctors repay loans issued after Change cyberattack

pppIn this articleppFollowing the massive cyberattack on UnitedHealth Groups Change Healthcare unit last year the company launched a temporary funding assistance program to help medical practices with their shortterm cash flow needs offering nointerest loans with no added feesppA little over a year later UnitedHealth is aggressively going after borrowers demanding they immediately repay their outstanding balances according to documents viewed by CNBC and providers who received funding Some groups have been asked to repay hundreds of thousands of dollars in a matter of days ppOptum UnitedHealths financial pharmacy and care services arm is telling borrowers that it reserves the right to begin offsetting claims payable to the practices meaning the company will withhold separate funds until it recoups the loanppIts a significant change in posture for the company which suffered a cyberattack in February 2024 that compromised data from around 190 million Americans the largest reported healthcare breach in US history The ensuing disruption caused severe fallout across the healthcare system leaving many providers temporarily unable to get paid for their services Some dipped into their personal savings to keep their practices afloatppDuring a Senate hearing about the attack in May UnitedHealth CEO Andrew Witty said providers would only be required to repay the loans when they not me but they confirm that their cash flow is normalizedppSeveral doctors who took advantage of the financing told CNBC that they cant meet the companys new demands Dr Christine Meyer an internist who started a practice in Exton Pennsylvania received a letter from Optum earlier this month telling her to immediately submit her organizations payment ppWe are not in any position to start repaying this loan Meyer who started her practice about 20 years ago told CNBC She has been a vocal critic of UnitedHealth following the breachppIm just looking at all my legal options at this point Meyer said But repaying them 750000 in five days is obviously not going to happenppUnitedHealth didnt comment on specific cases but a spokesperson for Change Healthcare confirmed that the company has started recouping the loansppNow more than one year post the event and with services restored we have begun the process of recouping the interestfree funding we provided to providers the spokesperson said in a statementppThe company said the US Department of Health and Human Services took the same approach last year under its own cyberattack lending program HHS launched a separate funding assistance program through the Centers for Medicare Medicaid Services last March CMS said it would automatically recoup payments from Medicare claims and providers could accrue interest according to a releaseppWe continue to work with providers on repayment and other options and continue to reach out to those providers that have not been responsive to previous calls or email requests for more information the Change Healthcare spokesperson saidppProviders were told that UnitedHealth reserved the right to withhold future payments when they signed up for the funding assistance program the company added CNBC independently reviewed a copy of a loan agreement for the program and confirmed this statementppChange Healthcare which offers payment and revenue cycle management tools was acquired by Optum in 2022ppAfter discovering the breach last year UnitedHealth said it isolated and disconnected the impacted systems The company paid out more than 9 billion to providers in 2024 and more than 45 billion has already been repaid according to the companys fourthquarter earnings report in January UnitedHealth said providers would receive an invoice once standard payment operations resumed and that they would be subject to a repayment period of 45 business days ppChange Healthcare will notify the recipient that the funding amount is due after claims processing or payment processing services have resumed and payments impacted during the service disruption period are processed the website says ppWhile the vast majority of Change Healthcares services have been restored over the course of the last year three products are still listed as partial service available according to UnitedHealths cyberattack response websiteppAnd doctors are still reeling ppMeyer said that when the breach took place she watched her practices daily deposits shrivel from the range of 60000 to 80000 to about 150 overnight She applied for Optums temporary funding assistance program and after some difficulty and back and forth with the company she ultimately received a total of 756900 in financial assistanceppFormer Senator Bob Casey Jr DPa shared Meyers story during the congressional hearing in May He asked Witty about the companys approach to the repayment process ppId like to absolutely confirm to you and Dr Meyer that we have no intention of asking for loan repayment until after she determines that her business is back to normal Witty told lawmakers Even then we would not look for repayment until 45 business days â 60 calendar days â after that and there would be no interest and no fee associated with that loanppSo it would be a determination she makes Casey askedppThats absolutely right Witty said ppMeyer said thats not what happened ppShe received a notice from Optum on Jan 24 which was viewed by CNBC that requested repayment since the service disruption has ended for most clients Meyer said she called and told the company she was not in any position to pay ppMeyer claims that her practice lost more than 1 million in revenue due to the Change Healthcare cyberattack She told CNBC the figure was based on a forensic financial analysis her practice carried out by comparing its charges against payments over recent years The 12 million figure accounts for losses across all its insurers not just UnitedHealthcare Meyer saidppOn April 1 Meyer received another notice requesting immediate repayment within five business days The letter was addressed to Meyer But the name of the practice on the letter Insight Counseling as well as the total amount due 925200 were incorrect ppMeyer said she called Optum again and was told the company made a mistake but that she had five days to repay her actual total of 750000 At that point the company would start withholding her UnitedHealthcare payments which she described as a shakedownppMeyer said her practice typically receives annual claims payments of about 150000 to 200000 from UnitedHealthcareppI guess Ill just let them take those payments back for the next three years until they get their money back she told CNBCppIn a post on LinkedIn on Thursday Meyer wrote that she and her team made a plan to leave the least amount of money in the account set up to receive payments from UnitedHealthcare If it isnt there they cant get itppDr Purvi Parikh an allergist and immunologist with a private practice in New York shared a similar storyppParikhs practice received about 440000 in funding assistance after the breach She said she started getting repayment notices late last year and that Optum was threatening to offset claims payable to the practiceppWe were already hit very hard by the Change Healthcare hack Parikh said in an interview Now on top of that theyre asking for all of this money back or theyre going to hold future payments ransom Its just been a very frustrating experience dealing with OptumppParikhs practice requested a onemonth extension on its final payment of 101650 in January to try and keep UnitedHealth from withholding other payments In the email request Parikhs colleague wrote that it has been quite difficult to recover financiallyppOptum granted Parikhs practice the extensionppPeople dont just have that amount of money just sitting around Parikh said Weve paid everything back but it wasnt without hardship ppOn Friday the American Medical Association sent a letter to Optum urging the company not to use a onesizefitsall approach to loan repayment The AMA also asked Optum to honor its commitment to allow physicians to decide when to begin the repayment processppEach practice will have distinct levels of patient volumes revenue generation and cost pressures and needs a repayment plan that does not recreate the same dire financial straits experienced during the cyberattack when CHCs systems were nonfunctional AMA CEO Dr James Madara wroteppA physician who runs a pediatric practice in New Jersey said UnitedHealth has already started withholding payments from the organization The practice received more than 500000 in funding assistance following the Change Healthcare breach ppThe doctor who asked not to be named due to the sensitive nature of the situation said the practice began receiving phone calls and emails from Optum requesting repayment beginning late last year The group indicated that it didnt have the money but would set up a payment plan and had begun the processppBut the doctor said its billing department noticed that UnitedHealth had already started holding back claims payments In its explanation of benefits which details what an insurer will cover theres a line that reads The amount payable on this statement has been used to repay amounts owed under your agreement with Change Healthcare Operations LLCppWATCH Health and Human Services Department opens probe into hack at UnitedHealthâs Change HealthcareppGot a confidential news tip We want to hear from youppSign up for free newsletters and get more CNBC delivered to your inboxppGet this delivered to your inbox and more info about our products and servicespp 2025 CNBC LLC All Rights Reserved A Division of NBCUniversalpp
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