U.S. Health Insurance Company Targeted by Cyberattack Giving Pharmacies a Hard-Time Processing Prescriptions

Original article here.

Earlier this week, a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group, one of the largest health insurance agencies in the U.S., fell victim to a cyberattack.

The attack, attributed to what is believed to be a foreign “nation-state” actor, severely disrupted the ability of numerous pharmacies across the country to process prescriptions.

The compromised system belonged to Change Healthcare, a subsidiary of the Minnesota-based UnitedHealth Group.

This incident was confirmed when unauthorized access was detected on Wednesday, as reported by Bloomberg.

“UnitedHealth Group identified a suspected nation-state associated cyber security threat actor had gained access to some of the Change Healthcare information technology systems,” the company disclosed. “Immediately upon detection of this outside threat, the company proactively isolated the impacted systems from other connecting systems in the interest of protecting our partners and patients, to contain, assess and remediate the incident.”

The impact of this cyberattack was felt widely, with some pharmacies unable to process prescriptions, thereby hindering insurance companies from receiving payment. Notable healthcare facilities, including the Naval Hospital in Camp Pendleton, California, and Evans Army Community Hospital in Colorado, reported either an inability to process prescription claims or significant delays.

“Due to an ongoing enterprise-wide issue, all Camp Pendleton and associated pharmacies are unable to process any prescription claims. We are only able to assist patients with emergency and urgent prescriptions from hospital providers at this time. Please visit our website for info,” stated the Naval Hospital, Camp Pendleton.

In response to the cyberattack, the American Hospital Association, representing approximately 5,000 member hospitals and other healthcare providers, issued a warning about the cybersecurity incident against Change Healthcare. They reassured that “all other systems across UnitedHealth Group are operational.”

UnitedHealth Group is currently uncertain when the services for its subsidiary will be fully restored. The company is collaborating with law enforcement and security experts to address the issue.

“Change Healthcare is experiencing a cybersecurity issue, and our experts are working to address the matter,” UnitedHealth Group announced. “Once we became aware of the outside threat, in the interest of protecting our partners and patients, we took immediate action to disconnect our systems to prevent further impact.”