ASA Warns HHS of Financial Impacts on Anesthesia Groups from Change Healthcare Cyberattack

Yesterday, ASA submitted a letter  to Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra describing the ways the February 21 Change Healthcare (CHC) cyberattack has impacted anesthesia groups. Many of CHC’s healthcare facility and practice-facing networks for transmitting claims and processing payments have remained offline since the event, threatening anesthesia groups’ financial solvency and their ability to compensate their staff.

ASA urged the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to address these financial hardships as quickly as possible, recommending that the agency use its authority to reduce regulatory burden and help facilitate Medicare claims submissions, including processes to submit paper claims. ASA commended the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) for considering expedited payments with generous terms for repayment and for its guidance for contractors to relax prior authorization and other regulatory requirements.

ASA’s letter addressed inadequacies in the response to these continued system outages from CHC and its parent company UnitedHealth Group (UHG). Anesthesia groups have reported a lack of communication from CHC on how claims will be processed in the near-term and a timeline for when systems will be back online. 

ASA will continue to work with HHS and other federal policymakers to find solutions to mitigate the financial impacts of this cyberattack on members.

Click here to read ASA’s Washington Alert on the CHC cyberattack.

Please contact the ASA Department of Quality and Regulatory Affairs at [email protected] with any questions.