CBS News
Cyberattack on UnitedHealth still impacting prescription access: “These are threats to life”
Washington — A cyberattack on the health technology provider Change Healthcare is wreaking havoc nationwide, as some hospitals and pharmacies cannot get paid, and many patients are unable to get prescriptions.
Change Healthcare is a subsidiary of the UnitedHealth Group, one of the nation’s largest healthcare companies. In a federal filing this week, UnitedHealth said that Change Healthcare first discovered the hack on Feb. 21, disconnecting impacted systems “immediately.”
“So I mean we’ve seen a lot of claims coming through as a rejected claim, where obviously the insurance provider are not able to pay because of this attack,” said Amrish Patel, a pharmacist in Dallas, Texas. “Elderly patients that have a fixed income, and they’re trying to get their medicine…unfortunately there’s no way around it at this point.”
Change Healthcare says it processes 15 billion transactions annually, touching one in three U.S. patient records.
“I can tell you that this cyberattack has affected every hospital in the country one way or another,” said John Riggi, national advisor for cybersecurity and risk at the American Hospital Association.
“It’s not a data crime, it’s not a white-collar crime, these are threats to life,” Riggi added.
In a since-deleted post on the dark web, a Russian-speaking ransomware group known as Blackcat claimed responsibility, alleging they stole more than six terabytes of data, including “sensitive” medical records.
“Change Healthcare can confirm we are experiencing a cybersecurity issue perpetrated by a cybercrime threat actor who has represented itself to us as ALPHV/Blackcat,” UnitedHealth told CBS News in a statement Thursday of Blackcat’s claim. “Our experts are working to address the matter and we are working closely with law enforcement and leading third-party consultants, Mandiant and Palo Alto Network, on this attack against Change Healthcare’s systems.”
UnitedHealth added that its investigation has so far provided “no indication” that the systems of its other subsidiaries — Optum, UnitedHealthcare and UnitedHealth Group — “have been affected by this issue.”
Change Healthcare says it has established workarounds for payment, but more than one week after the hack was first detected, systems remain down, creating billing headaches for hospitals and pharmacies. Smaller hospitals are particularly vulnerable.
“The smaller, less resourced hospitals, our safety net critical access rural hospitals, certainly do not operate with months of cash reserves,” Riggi said. “Could be just a matter of days, or a couple of weeks.”
In a previous statement Wednesday, UnitedHealth estimated that more than 90% of the nation’s pharmacies “have modified electronic claim processing to mitigate impacts” of the cyberattack, and “the remainder have offline processing workarounds.”
UnitedHealth has not provided an estimate on when it believes its systems will return to normal. The FBI is also investigating.
CBS News
Kamala Harris will speak with “60 Minutes” tomorrow. Here’s what to know for the interview.
Voters will get the chance to hear from Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday as she presents her case for why she should be president in a “60 Minutes” election special.
For decades, “60 Minutes” has featured both Republican and Democratic nominees for presidents, but this year, former President Donald Trump backed out after previously indicating he would be on the show. Correspondent Scott Pelley, who’d been set to interview Trump, will instead travel to Arizona’s Maricopa County, home to more than 60% of Arizona’s voters and a critical battleground in a key swing state.
One thing is certain about the election; with the U.S. deeply involved in both the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, whoever wins on Nov. 5 will become a wartime president.
What Harris will discuss
Israel’s war started one year ago after Hamas launched a surprise terror attack and correspondent Bill Whitaker will discuss the ongoing war with Harris.
Harris will also discuss the economy, immigration, her record as vice president and the differences between herself and Trump.
Democratic vice presidential candidate Gov. Tim Walz will also appear.
Whitaker joined the Democratic ticket on the campaign trail this week to gain insight into their platform’s priorities and values, and what the candidates believe voters should know.
Why Trump pulled out of the “60 Minutes” interview
Leading up to the candidate hour, Trump, through campaign spokespeople, was the first candidate to accept the “60 Minutes” request to be interviewed for the special, according to CBS News. It had been agreed that both candidates would receive equal time during the broadcast.
Trump last sat down with 60 Minutes in 2020. He walked out during the interview with Lesley Stahl. Trump referenced the incident on Tuesday night at a Milwaukee press conference when asked about his decision not to participate in the Oct. 7 “60 Minutes” election special.
“Well, right now, I went to – they came to me and would like me to do an interview, but first I want to get an apology, because the last time I did an interview with them, if you remember, they challenged me on the computer,” Trump said. “They said the ‘laptop from hell’ was from Russia, and I said it wasn’t from Russia. It was from Hunter, and I never got an apology, so I’m sort of waiting. I’d love to do ’60 Minutes.’ I do everything.”
The Republican nominee for president emphasized that he felt he was owed an apology from “60 Minutes.”
“Let’s see if they do it. I wouldn’t mind doing 60,” Trump continued. “I’ve done ’60 Minutes’ a lot.”
In a statement on Tuesday, Trump campaign communications director Steven Cheung said that Trump’s team had not agreed to an interview.
“Fake News,” Cheung said in a post on X. “60 Minutes begged for an interview, even after they were caught lying about Hunter Biden’s laptop back in 2020. There were initial discussions, but nothing was ever scheduled or locked in. They also insisted on doing live fact checking, which is unprecedented.”
Previous Trump, Harris appearances on 60 Minutes
Trump previously sat down with “60 Minutes'” Mike Wallace in 1985, Pelley in 2015 and Lesley Stahl twice in 2016, first in July of that year and then again in November of 2016. He also spoke with Stahl again in 2018 and 2020.
Harris previously sat down with Whitaker last year. She also was interviewed by Norah O’Donnell, “CBS Evening News” anchor and “60 Minutes” contributing correspondent, in 2020.
How to watch the “60 Minutes” election special
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