A cyberattack on a national health care agency has delayed payments to local pharmacies for several weeks.The ransomware attack on Change Healthcare, a division of UnitedHealth Group, shut down the largest health care payment system in the country.It’s affecting pharmacists like John Nicholson, the owner of Mahaska Drug in Oskaloosa.Nicholson said he had to put a pause on prescriptions for the two days that followed the attack. Weeks later, it’s still been impacting his operations.”We cannot submit a claim to anybody’s insurance. So we could not tell them what we thought their copay would be or anything like that,” Nicholson said. “It shows how vulnerable our whole system is and how dependent we are on the internet.”John Forbes, an Iowa state representative, is also an Urbandale pharmacist. He said the payout delays are affecting any patients using discount cards.”If you’re looking at a co-pay discount card, you’re probably not going to be able to use that at this point in time until the system is fixed,” Forbes said. However, according to UnitedHealth Group, electronic prescribing is now fully functional.It also says electronic payment will be available beginning Friday, with medical claim service being restored next week.You can find the latest information on the attack at this link.» Download the free KCCI app to get updates on the go: Apple | Google PlayGet the latest headlines from KCCI
A cyberattack on a national health care agency has delayed payments to local pharmacies for several weeks.
The ransomware attack on Change Healthcare, a division of UnitedHealth Group, shut down the largest health care payment system in the country.
It’s affecting pharmacists like John Nicholson, the owner of Mahaska Drug in Oskaloosa.
Nicholson said he had to put a pause on prescriptions for the two days that followed the attack. Weeks later, it’s still been impacting his operations.
“We cannot submit a claim to anybody’s insurance. So we could not tell them what we thought their copay would be or anything like that,” Nicholson said. “It shows how vulnerable our whole system is and how dependent we are on the internet.”
John Forbes, an Iowa state representative, is also an Urbandale pharmacist. He said the payout delays are affecting any patients using discount cards.
“If you’re looking at a co-pay discount card, you’re probably not going to be able to use that at this point in time until the system is fixed,” Forbes said.
However, according to UnitedHealth Group, electronic prescribing is now fully functional.
It also says electronic payment will be available beginning Friday, with medical claim service being restored next week.
You can find the latest information on the attack at this link.
» Download the free KCCI app to get updates on the go: Apple | Google Play