Federal & CMS News
The federal government continues to react to the United Health Group cybersecurity incident. A subsidiary of the group, Change Healthcare, which deals with as many as half of the payment transactions in the US health care system, has not corrected this breach, which initially occurred in February. CMS announced on Friday, March 15, another support for practices that have enrolled with MIPS, allowing for an extension of the Extreme and Uncontrollable Circumstances exception for those practices impacted by the breach.

• NEW: HHS Shares Individual Payers’ Assistance Information
  HHS has compiled a toolkit that breaks down 10 commercial payers’ assistance programs and resources available to providers impacted by the Change cyberattack. Programs from United Health Group, AmeriHealth Caritas, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Centene, Cigna, CVS Health, Elevance, Humana, Kaiser Permanente, and Molina are detailed in the document, which also includes contact information for those payers and more.
• Statement for Change Healthcare Non-enforcement Medicaid Informational Bulletin (Article 3/15/24)
• Change Healthcare/ Optum Payment Disruption (CHOPD) Accelerated and Advance Payments for Part A Providers and Part B Suppliers Frequently Asked Questions (Article 3/14)
• Change Healthcare Cybersecurity Incident – CMS Response and State Flexibilities (Article 3/13/24)
  
  

Congressional Hearing Information: Congress edges toward action amid Change Healthcare outage
More than three weeks since a cyberattack that continues to disrupt U.S. healthcare operations, Congress is still groping for a response. But paths forward have begun to emerge as awareness of the damage slowly spreads on Capitol Hill.

Many lawmakers still have no answers when asked about the Feb. 21 ransomware assault on Change Healthcare, a claims and billing processor within UnitedHealth Group’s Optum subsidiary. But a growing number of them are devising plans that range from holding hearings and putting pressure on federal agencies to enacting legislation.

For additional guidance, email: advocacy@apta.org