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UnitedHealth says Change Healthcare cyberattack cost it $872 million
A cyberattack earlier against a UnitedHealth Group subsidiary this year has proved costly for one of the nation’s largest employers.
The health insurance giant on Tuesday noted $872 million in “unfavorable cyberattack effects” while reporting its first quarter operations earnings. Those unfavorable effects refer to the February 21 cyberattack on Change Healthcare, which shut down operations at hospitals and pharmacies for more than a week. The $872 million includes “the Change Healthcare business disruption impacts and exclude the cyberattack direct response costs,” which likely excludes any amount UnitedHealth may have paid to hackers as a ransom.
UnitedHealth confirmed at the time that the cybercriminals behind the attack was a Russia-based ransomware gang known as ALPHV or BlackCat. The group itself claimed responsibility for the attack, alleging it stole more than six terabytes of data, including “sensitive” medical records. UnitedHealth did now reveal how much — if at all — it paid the hackers to have their systems restored, though multiple media sources including Wired Magazine, reported at the time that a ransom payment for the amount of $22 million was made in the form of bitcoin.
UnitedHealth declined a request for comment by CBS MoneyWatch on Tuesday.
Havoc on health care companies
Ransomeware attacks, which involve disabling a target’s computer systems and cause considerable havoc, are nothing new and have become increasingly more common within the health care system. A study published in JAMA Health Forum in December 2022 found that the annual number of ransomware attacks against hospitals and other providers doubled from 2016 to 2021.
A study published in May 2023 in JAMA Network Open examining the effects of an attack on a health system found that waiting times, median length of stay, and incidents of patients leaving against medical advice all increased. An October 2023 preprint from researchers at the University of Minnesota found a nearly 21% increase in mortality for patients in a ransomware-stricken hospital.
The Change Healthcare incident was “straight out an attack on the U.S. health system and designed to create maximum damage,” CEO Andrew Witty told analysts during an earnings call Tuesday. The cyberattack will likely cost UnitedHealth between $1.35 billion and $1.6 billion this year, the company projected in its earnings report.
Despite the $872 million hit from it took in the first quarter as a result of the cyberattack, UnitedHealth Group trounced first-quarter expectations. UnitedHealth reported $99.8 billion in revenue during the first quarter of 2024, and a per-share profit of $6.91 — surpassing the $99.2 billion in revenue and $6.61 per share forecast by analysts on FactSet.
“We got through that very well in terms of remediation and building back to (full) function,” Witty said.
About 80% of Change Healthcare’s pharmacy claims and payment computer systems have been fully restored since the cyberattack, Roger Connor, CEO of Optum Insight said during the analysts’ call.
NEW YORK — Former New York Gov. David Paterson and his stepson were attacked in New York City on Friday night, authorities said.
The incident occurred just before 9 p.m. on Second Avenue near East 96th Street on the Upper East Side, according to the New York City Police Department.
Police said officers were sent to the scene after an assault was reported. When officers arrived, police say they found a 20-year-old man suffering from facial injuries and a 70-year-old man who had head pain. Both victims were taken to a local hospital in stable condition.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the former governor said the two were attacked while “taking a walk around the block near their home by some individuals that had a previous interaction with his stepson.”
The spokesperson said that they were injured “but were able to fight off their attackers.”
Both were taken to Cornell Hospital “as a precaution,” he added.
Police said no arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing.
The 70-year-old Paterson, a Democrat, served as governor from 2008 to 2010, stepping into the post after the resignation of Eliot Spitzer following his prostitution scandal. He made history at the time as the state’s first-ever Black and legally blind governor.
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A 17-year-old boy was critically injured and a person is in custody after a gunman opened fire on a SEPTA bus in North Philadelphia Friday evening, police said.
At around 6:15 p.m., Philadelphia police were notified about a shooting on a SEPTA bus traveling on Allegheny Avenue near 3rd and 4th streets in North Philadelphia, Inspector D F Pace told CBS News Philadelphia.
There were an estimated 30 people on the bus at the time of the shooting, Pace said, but only the 17-year-old boy was believed to have been shot. Investigators said they believe it was a targeted attack on the teenager and that he was shot in the back of the bus at close range.
According to Pace, the SEPTA bus driver alerted a control center about the shooting, which then relayed the message to Philadelphia police, who responded to the scene shortly.
Officers arrived at the scene and found at least one spent shell casing and blood on the bus, but no shooting victim, Pace said. Investigators later discovered the 17-year-old had been taken to Temple University Hospital where he is said to be in critical condition, according to police.
CBS Philadelphia
Through their preliminary investigation, police learned those involved in the SEPTA shooting may have fled in a silver-colored Kia.
Authorities then found a car matching the description of the Kia speeding in the area and a pursuit began, Pace said. Police got help from a PPD helicopter as they followed the Kia, which ended up crashing at 5th and Greenwood streets in East Mount Airy. Pace said the Kia crashed into a parked car.
The driver of the crashed car ran away but police were still able to take them into custody, Pace said.
Investigators believe there was a second person involved in the shooting who ran from the car before it crashed. Police said they believe this person escaped near Allegheny Avenue and 4th Street, leaving a coat behind.
According to Pace, police also found a gun and a group of spent shell casings believed to be involved in the shooting in the same area.
“It’s very possible that there may have been a shooting inside the bus and also shots fired from outside of the bus toward the bus,” Pace said, “We’re still trying to piece all that together at this time.”
This is an active investigation and police are reviewing surveillance footage from the SEPTA bus.