Federal health officials and payers are expected to meet March 18 to discuss how to support providers still struggling financially following the February cyberattack on UnitedHealth's Change Healthcare, according to a Bloomberg report.
Ahead of the meeting, payers have been asked to prepare details about how they are supporting providers financially, where challenges exist and other recovery efforts being made.
On March 18, UnitedHealth said it has advanced more than $2 billion to providers and is launching a medical claims preparation program over the next several days.
According to Bloomberg, a main concern among payers around advanced funding to providers is how money will be recuperated in the future.
The cyberattack has been called the most significant and consequential in American history, crippling financial operations for hospitals, insurers, pharmacies and medical groups nationwide.
Provider claims to payers have dropped by more than one-third, according to an analysis of 1,850 hospitals and 250,000 physicians nationwide by Kodiak Solutions. Through March 9, the total estimated cash flow impact for hospitals reporting data to Kodiak is $6.3 billion in delayed payments.
HHS has asked insurers to make interim payments to affected providers and that prior authorization and other utilization management requirements be put on hold temporarily. The federal government has also accelerated payments to hospitals and physicians.
On March 12, AHIP President and CEO Mike Tuffin said suspending prior authorization requirements could do more harm than good and that individual plans and providers are in the best position to assess how to maintain appropriate payments in a timely manner.
Until March 31, UnitedHealth has suspended Medicare Advantage and D-SNP prior authorizations for most outpatient services. No other large insurers have made the decision to relax prior authorizations enterprise-wide. The federal government has also launched an investigation into UnitedHealth over the cyberattack within the context of HIPAA compliance.