US senator plans legislation to accelerate payments after Change Healthcare hack
March 8 (Reuters) - Democratic Senator Mark Warner said on Friday he plans to introduce legislation that would help accelerate and advance payments to medical providers and vendors following the hack on UnitedHealth's tech unit Change Healthcare.
The unit processes about 50% of medical claims in the U.S. for around 900,000 physicians, 33,000 pharmacies, 5,500 hospitals and 600 laboratories. About 1 in 3 U.S. patient records are touched by its health technology offerings.
"I plan to write and introduce legislation that would provide for accelerated and advanced payments to providers and vendors to protect them in the event of future disruptions, as long as they meet minimum cybersecurity standards," Warner said in a statement.
Change Healthcare was breached on Feb. 21 by a hacking group called ALPHV, also known as "BlackCat".
The UnitedHealth unit said on Thursday it expects to restore disrupted services for medical claims and payments platforms by mid-March.
"This attack demonstrates that we need to have backup plans in place for such incidents," Warner, who is also the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, added.
The U.S. government said on Tuesday that it will accelerate Medicare and Medicaid payments to some hospitals hurt by the hack. (Reporting by Sriparna Roy in Bengaluru)
