A pair of Democratic senators are asking UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) for information on billions of dollars in loans the health insurer made to healthcare providers in the aftermath of a February 2024 cyberattack affecting one of its units that processed claims.
Sens. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) and Ron Wyden (Ore.) on Wednesday wrote to UnitedHealth Group CEO Stephen Hemsley and Optum Financial CEO Dhivya Suryadevara about concerns over repayment demands, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The cyberattack impacted UnitedHealth’s Change Healthcare unit, leading to a backlog in claims being paid to providers. The insurer then made loans to providers in response.
In April of this year, it was reported that UnitedHealth was pressuring many providers for an immediate payback of those loans or risk facing offsets against their insurance claims.
“After flunking cybersecurity 101, it’s unacceptable for UnitedHealth Group to use hardball tactics to recoup loans to doctors left in a financial bedlam through no fault of their own, Warren wrote in the letter.
“Now, more than 15 months after systems restoration and 14 months after the federal government ended its own assistance program, we have worked collaboratively with thousands of providers across the country to help them satisfy the repayment responsibilities they agreed to when accepting funds,” a Change Healthcare spokesman told the newspaper.
The letter is the latest headache for UnitedHealth, which is under a Justice Department investigation involving its Medicare business practices, doctor reimbursements, and its pharmacy benefit manager OptumRx.
Earlier this month, Warren and Wyden launched a probe into allegations UnitedHealth paid nursing homes bonuses if they reduced transfers of sick residents to hospitals.