Although this blog author will no longer post original commentary on the healthcare system and healthcare policy, Fixing U.S. Healthcare blog will from time to time curate links to websites that highlight notable new features and developments.
Two items to start with:
Medical debt: Why a financial regulator is going after medical debt, NPR, March 1, 2024
Health care debt now touches 100 million Americans, and while a divided Congress seems unlikely to offer patients relief anytime soon, the CFPB has been busy. Our system is so dysfunctional that when people get sick and they can’t afford all their medical bills, even with insurance, it ends up affecting every aspect of their financial lives through debt collection and most importantly, through the credit reporting system. But Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra says, “American families should not have their financial lives ruined by medical bills.” Read more.
Ransomware Cyber-Attack: The Change Healthcare attack: Explaining how it happened, by Sean Michael Kerner, TechTarget.com, March 8, 2024
On February 21, 2024, Change Healthcare publicly disclosed that it had been impacted by a cyberattack. The Change Healthcare Platform is one of the largest health information exchange (HIE) platforms in the U.S. The company manages 15 billion claims a year, totaling over $1.5 trillion. BlackCat/ALPHV has claimed responsibility for this attack and demanded money to return services online. This type of cyberthreat is known as a ransomware attack, a type of malware that encrypts data on the victim’s systems, making it inaccessible until a ransom is paid. The impact of the Change Healthcare cyberattack has been devastating for the healthcare industry and hundreds of millions of Americans who rely on services powered by victimized providers. Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) says, “Due to the Change Healthcare hack, [her state’s rural] hospitals have seen nearly all — 98 percent — of their claims and cash flow disappear in the last few weeks,” adding that the hospitals need “urgent financial support” to continue providing patient care. Read more.
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