The healthcare headlines have been dominated these past few weeks with the cyber attack on United Healthcare’s clearinghouse, Change Healthcare. Unfortunately, the national headlines have not been giving this massive story the attention it deserves.
If you’re a DPC doc, this cyber attack probably hasn’t affected you much. However, if you’re still in the fee-for-service world, especially as a small private practice, this could be your death knell.
If you’re not up to speed, Change Healthcare was the target of a massive cyber attack. This attack has halted their ability to process claims. Therefore, they have not paid out their daily average of $4.1 billion to the physicians and other healthcare providers, such as pharmacies in hospitals, in nearly 3 weeks.
Despite not paying their contracted providers, they are still collecting insurance premiums. Let that sink in.
Now, cyber attacks are our new reality. As a small business, we may someday be the victim of a cyber attack. However, what enrages me about this situation is the lack of support and empathy that UHC is offering to the healthcare providers who make their business possible.
They are offering a meager $4000 loan (LOAN!) to some offices that submit monthly claims as high as $500,000. Statements reassuring providers that they will be made whole are nowhere to be found.
It has gotten so bad, in fact, that Medicare is stepping in to help support provider offices that have been devastated by this lack of payment. Our tax dollars are now back at work to clean up the mess that is being fueled by corporate greed.
UHC has the money, they’re clearly still accepting premiums. UHC also has historical data of how much they pay these practices month over month. At a minimum, I would expect that they would float these practices their average monthly payment to ensure no disruption to patient care until they can resolve this issue.
As a DPC physician, I am largely untouched by this issue, since we don’t rely on third-party billing. However, my heart bleeds for my colleagues who are dependent on a system that continues to fail them.
If this is what Change in healthcare looks like, you can keep the Change. I will stick with direct primary care.