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Optum/Change Healthcare Cyberattack SPOTREP #2

February 26, 2024 / TLP:GREEN

Contents

Situation Overview and Highlights
Impacts to Health Care
Continued Cyber Security Issues

Situation Overview and Highlights

As of Monday, February 26, Optum/Change Healthcare is continuing to experience impacts from a cyberattack that started on Wednesday, February 21. Optum has a high-level of confidence that Optum, UnitedHealthcare, and UnitedHealth Group have not been impacted by the cyber security issue.
- This has been an ongoing issue for the past five days and Optum/Change Healthcare believe the issue is expected to last at least through today.

Impacts to Health Care

Optum/Change Healthcare manage Medicaid benefits for roughly 30% of states across the US. This includes services ranging from consultation all the way to being the Medicaid pharmacy vendor for the state.
In Utah, the interrupted services of Optum/Change Healthcare have affected Utah Medicaid operations. Optum/Change Healthcare operates as the Utah Medicaid pharmacy vendor; over the past five days of system outages, Medicaid staff have struggled to access pharmacy claim information.
- The Utah Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) have advised pharmacies to provide up to a 30-day supply of medications at no cost to Medicaid members.
- Utah Medicaid has created a system for temporary reimbursement for pharmacies that service Medicaid members during this time.
- Furthermore, Utah Medicaid and Utah DHHS have been tasked with reaching out to over 17,000 members who are on life-sustaining medication, and are due for a refill by March 2, to ensure their access to health care is uninterrupted.
Vermont pharmacies are experiencing similar issues to Utah as Optum/Change Healthcare is Vermont’s pharmacy benefit administrator and operates Vermont’s Medicaid pharmacy claims system.
In Ohio, the pharmacy at Magruder Hospital was unable to process prescriptions due to the outage relating to their pharmacy software last week. As of Saturday, February 24, the pharmacy restored processing to most insurance companies and were working to fill the backlogged prescriptions.
- This is another example of the longer the outage lasts, the more prescription orders will be backlogged which could exacerbate delayed access to medications.
The American Hospital Association (AHA) has been in communication with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) about alternate options to ensure patients have access to health care and medications as well as providers having temporary financial support during this process.

Continued Cyber Security Issues

H-ISAC released a report with additional information on maintaining network connectivity with UnitedHealth Group, Optum, and United Healthcare as well as Indicators of Compromise (IOCs) to identify compromised systems and/or prevent unauthorized access. The report also provides recommendations; read more here.

If you become aware of situations that may adversely affect healthcare supply or patient care from this event, or if you would like to request assistance, please contact the Healthcare Ready Support Team at Alerts@HealthcareReady.org or call (866) 247-2694.

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