Change Healthcare cyber attack: Metro Atlanta therapists suffer financially

ATLANTA - Metro Atlanta therapists say many mental health professionals are struggling to stay afloat after the recent Change Healthcare cyberattack shut down reimbursement systems and left a lot of them unpaid.

Shaketa Robinson-Bruce, the founder of Open Arms Counseling Center, LLC, says many mental health professionals are struggling as they fail to get reimbursements from insurance companies.

"My practice is 98% insurance," she explained. Robinson-Bruce says many in her industry are facing a financial mess. "It’s affecting our ability to keep our doors open, and it’s affecting our ability to take care of our own families."

Leaders at Clinicians of Color in Private Practice, a Facebook group of over 22,000 members, say many members are facing tough financial decisions.

"It has caused me tremendous amounts of emotional distress, and I’m not sleeping at night because of the anxiety and stress of me worrying. How am I going to make payroll?" said Lisa Savage, co-founder of Clinicians of Color, LLC.

Some members say they may have to stop accepting insurance. Robinson-Bruce says she is scared about what that would do across the industry, especially among patients of color and the LGBTQIA+ community. 

"[We] Help them feel like they’re not alone, help them feel like they’re understood. We provide that space for clients, specifically for people from marginalized communities," she said.

Change Healthcare is owned by UnitedHealth Group, which is offering a temporary funding assistance program.

"We are currently engaged with several thousand provider organizations to help them with their cash flow challenges, from large regional health systems to small, rural independent physician practices," said a spokesperson for UnitedHealth Group.

Savage says the program has been hard for providers to qualify for, and successful providers were offered low amounts.

"From what I’m hearing, and I’m talking about hundreds of other people, the loan process has just been a disaster and not helpful at all," she added.

She says she wants other providers to know there is emotional and mental support in their group and welcomes others to join, so they know this struggle is not an isolated one. Click here to join.

Officials at UnitedHealth Group say they are working aggressively on the restoration of their systems and services, and provided FOX 5 with the following information.

• Pharmacy services: Electronic prescribing is now fully functional with claim submission and payment transmission also available as of today. We have taken action to make sure patients can access their medicines in the meantime, including Optum Rx pharmacies sending members their medications based on the date needed.
• Payments platform: Electronic payment functionality will be available for connection beginning March 15.
• Medical claims: We expect to begin testing and reestablish connectivity to our claims network and software on March 18, restoring service through that week. While we work to restore these systems, we strongly recommend our provider and payer clients use the applicable workarounds we have established—in particular, using our new iEDI claim submission system in the interest of system redundancy given the current environment.

"We are committed to providing relief for people affected by this malicious attack on the U.S. health system," said Andrew Witty, CEO of UnitedHealth Group. "All of us at UnitedHealth Group feel a deep sense of responsibility for recovery and are working tirelessly to ensure that providers can care for their patients and run their practices. We are determined to make things right as fast as possible."