UnitedHealth says it has made progress on recovering from a massive cyberattack

UnitedHealth is currently testing the last major system it needs to recover from last month’s Change Healthcare cyberattack, but does not yet have a date for completing the recovery.

The healthcare giant said Monday it is testing software for filing medical claims. It has already largely restored its systems for handling pharmacy claims and processing payments.

Change Healthcare provides technology used to file and process insurance claims. It processes approximately 14 billion transactions per year and works with claims from various insurers.

The company said last month that the ransomware group ALPHV, or Blackcat, gained access to some of its information technology systems.

The American Hospital Association has called the cyberattack “the most significant and consequential incident of its kind against the U.S. healthcare system.” The association said the disruption caused by the attack made it harder for hospitals to provide care, file insurance claims and get paid.

Federal civil rights investigators said last week they would investigate whether the attack exposed protected health information.

Earlier this month, UnitedHealth said it has restored nearly all of Change Healthcare’s prescription processing system. That tells pharmacies how much to charge patients for a prescription based on their coverage.

Late last week, the company restored Change Healthcare’s electronic payments platform, which includes billing and payments between healthcare providers and payers such as insurers.

UnitedHealth said Monday it is expanding temporary funding to support physicians and other healthcare providers affected by the attack. The federal government is also offering temporary advance payments for Medicare claims.

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