Representative Vern Buchanan (R-FL) – the Chairman of the Health Subcommittee – led a letter with 19 other congressmen to address the cyberattack against Change Healthcare. Attacks such as these can be incredibly serious as researchers at the University of Minnesota revealed that there’s a nearly 21 percent increase in mortality for patients in a ransomware-attacked hospital.
The attack occurred on Feb. 21, 2024.
The letter, sent to Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, comes after a Ways and Means Committee hearing regarding the cyberattack. Secretary Becerra testified at the hearing.
Change Healthcare states they support 14 billion “clinical, financial, and operational transactions annually.” The cyberattack is costing health providers $1 billion a day as 94% of hospitals have reported a financial impact.
“I am extremely concerned about the status of the investigation by HHS into the devastating cyberattack on Change Healthcare,” said Congressman Buchanan. “The administration needs to focus their attention on patients first and foremost to make sure they are still able to receive access to timely, quality care while ensuring their private and sensitive health care information [is] protected.”
Within the letter, the legislators are asking for transparency.
“While we appreciate that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) recently opened an investigation into the cyberattack on Change Healthcare (and its parent company, UnitedHealth Group (UHG)), we remain concerned that patients are not the primary focus of this investigation,” the lawmakers wrote in the letter. “Not only are providers losing up to a billion dollars a day in payment delays – potentially leading to delayed or deferred care for patients – the lack of transparency for patients regarding the status of their protected health information poses an active threat to patient well-being.”
They would go on to mention, “The dangers facing patients at present are severe, irreversible, and life-lasting. One cybersecurity director at a large U.S. hospital system has emphasized ‘that though they are in regular contact with Change and UnitedHealth, they have heard nothing so far about the security or integrity of patient records.’ This official also expressed concerns regarding ‘the prospect of the hackers potentially publishing the stolen sensitive patient data online.’”
“With much information still unknown about the stolen patient data, OCR should be focusing their efforts on partnering with the private sector and other governmental entities to ensure that bad actors do not have access to private medical data to manipulate or extort innocent patients,” the Republican committee members wrote.
Buchanan represents Florida’s 16th Congressional District.
