UnitedHealth makes doctors pay loans broadcast after cyberbrain change

After the mass cybernetic attack in UnitedHealth Group's Change the health unit last year, the company launched a temporary financing assistance program to help medical practices with their short -term cash flow needs, offering interest -free loans without additional rates.

Little more than a year later, UnitedHealth aggressively pursues the borrowers, demanding that “immediately reimburse” their pending balances, in accordance with the documents considered by CNBC and suppliers who received funds. Some groups have been asked to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in a matter of days.

Optum, the Financial, Pharmacy and Attention Services arm of UnitedHealth, tells the borrowers to reserve the right to “begin to compensate for claims to pay” to practices, which means that the company will retain separate funds until it recovers the loan.

It is a significant change in the position for the company, which suffered a cyber attack in February 2024 that compromised the data of around 190 million Americans, the greatest violation of the health reported in the history of the United States. The subsequent interruption caused severe consequences throughout the medical care system, leaving many providers temporarily unable to receive a payment for their services. Some immersed themselves in their personal savings to keep their practices afloat.

During an audience in the Senate on the attack in May, the CEO of Unitedhealth, Andrew Witty, said that suppliers would only be required to pay loans when “they, not me, but confirm that their cash flow is normalized.”

Several doctors who took advantage of the financing told CNBC that they cannot meet the company's new demands. Dr. Christine Meyer, internist who began a practice in Exton, Pennsylvania, received an Optum letter earlier this month that told her to immediately present the payment of her organization.

“We are not in a position to start paying this loan,” said Meyer, who began his practice about 20 years ago, he told CNBC. She has been a vocal criticism of UnitedHealth after rape.

“I'm just looking at all my legal options at this time,” said Meyer. “But paying $ 750,000 in five days will not happen.”

UnitedHealth did not comment on specific cases, but a Change Healthcare spokesman confirmed that the company has begun to recover loans.

“Now, more than a year after the event and with the restored services, we have started the process of recovering the interest without interest we provide to the suppliers,” said the spokesman in a statement.

The company said that the United States Department of Health and Human Services adopted the same approach last year “under its own cyber loan program.” HHS launched a separate financing assistance program through the Medicare and Medicaid service centers last March. CMS said it would automatically recover the payments of Medicare's claims, and suppliers could accumulate interest, according to a statement.

“We continue working with suppliers on reimbursement and other options, and continue to contact those suppliers who have not responded to previous calls or email applications for more information, “said the spokesman for medical care of changes.

Suppliers were told that Unitedhealth reserved the right to retain future payments when they were registered for the financing assistance program, the company added. CNBC independently reviewed a copy of a loan agreement for the program and confirmed this statement.

Change Healthcare, which offers management and income cycle management tools, was acquired by Optum in 2022.

After discovering the rape last year, UnitedHealth said he isolated and disconnected the impacted systems. The company paid more than $ 9 billion to suppliers in 2024, and more than $ 4.5 billion have already been paid, according to the company's quarter -quarter profit report in January. UnitedHealth said suppliers would receive an invoice once the standard payment operations resumed, and that they would be subject to a 45 business days reimbursement.

“The change in changes of changes will notify the recipient that the amount of financing is due after the claims processing services or the processing of payment and the payments affected during the period of interruption of the service are processed,” says the website.

While the vast majority of Change Healthcare services have been restored during the last year, three products still appear as “available partial service,” according to the United Cybercheetic response website.

And doctors are still staggering.

Meyer said that when the violation took place, he observed that the daily deposits of his practice lit from the range of $ 60,000 to $ 80,000 to approximately $ 150 “during the night.” She requested the Optum's temporary financing assistance program, and after some difficulty and round trip, finally received a total of $ 756,900 in financial assistance.

Former Senator Bob Casey Jr., D-Pa., Shared Meyer's story during the Congress audience in May. He asked ingenious about the company's approach for the reimbursement process.

“I would like to absolutely confirm you and Dr. Meyer that we have no intention of asking for the reimbursement of loans until after she determines that her business has returned to normal,” Witty told legislators. “Even then, we would not look for reimbursement up to 45 business days, 60 calendar days, after that and there would be no interests or rate associated with that loan.”

“So it would be a determination that she does?” Casey asked.

“That is absolutely correct,” Witty said.

Meyer said that is not what happened.

He received an Optum notice on January 24, which was seen by CNBC, which requested the reimbursement since “the interruption of the service has ended for most customers.” Meyer said he called and told the company that “he was not in a position to pay.”

Meyer states that his practice lost more than $ 1 million in income due to cybernetic medical care. She told CNBC that the figure was based on a forensic financial analysis that her practice made when comparing her charges against payments in recent years. The $ 1.2 million figure represents losses in all its insurers, not just UnitedHealthcare, Meyer said.

On April 1, Meyer received another notice requesting immediate reimbursement within five business days. The letter was addressed to Meyer. But the name of the practice in the letter, the advice of information, as well as the total amount owed, $ 925,200, were incorrect.

Meyer said he called Optum again and told him that the company made a mistake, but had five days to pay its real total of $ 750,000. At that time, the company would begin to retain its payments from Unitedhealthcare, which she described as a “shaking.”

Meyer said his practice generally receives annual claims payments of approximately $ 150,000 to $ 200,000 from Unitedhealthcare.

“I guess I will let them recover those payments for the next three years until they recover their money,” he told CNBC.

In a publication about LinkedIn on Thursday, Meyer wrote that she and her team “made a plan to leave the least amount of money in the account established to receive payments from Unitedhealthcare. If you are not there, they can't get it.”

Dr. Purvi Parikh, allergist and immunologist with a private practice in New York, shared a similar story.

Parikh's practice received around $ 440,000 in financing assistance after rape. She said she began receiving reimbursement notices at the end of last year, and that Optum threatened to compensate for claims to practice.

“We were already beaten very hard for the change in medical care,” Parikh said in an interview. “Now, in addition to that, they are asking for all this money or they will maintain the rescue of future payments. It has simply been a very frustrating experience that deals with Optum.”

Parikh's practice requested an extension of one month at its final payment of $ 101,650 in January to try to prevent Unitedhealth from retaining other payments. In the email application, the colleague of Parikh wrote that “it has been quite difficult to recover financially.”

Optum granted the practice of Parikh the extension.

“People not only have that amount of money just sitting,” Parikh said. “We have paid everything, but I was not exempt from difficulties.”

A doctor who directs a pediatric practice in New Jersey said that Unitedhealth has already begun to retain the organization's payments. The practice received more than $ 500,000 in financing assistance after the change in health violation.

The doctor, who asked not to be appointed due to the sensitive nature of the situation, said that the practice began to receive telephone calls and emails from Optum that requested the reimbursement from the end of last year. The group indicated that it did not have the money, but it would establish a payment plan and the process had begun.

But the doctor said his billing department noticed that Unitedhealth had already begun to retain claims payments. In his explanation of the benefits, which details what an insurer will cover, the doctor said that the company has a line that says: “UnitedHealthcare is retaining the payment of optum.”

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