(Reuters) – White House officials met with UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:) CEO Andrew Whitty and other industry officials on Tuesday to discuss the hack of the healthcare conglomerate’s technology unit that disrupted operations across the United States.
The meeting was the first to bring together providers such as hospitals and payers such as health insurance companies, a Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) spokesperson said, adding that daily one-on-one meetings with all parties involved have been held since the hack.
UnitedHealth did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
The cyberattack on UnitedHealth’s Change Healthcare (NASDAQ:) technology unit late last month by hackers calling themselves the Blackcat ransomware group has had ripple effects across the U.S. healthcare system.
The division operates as a financial clearinghouse for pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). PBMs help employers and insurance companies create lists of drugs covered by health plans and reimburse pharmacies for prescriptions to patients.
Change handles about 50% of U.S. medical claims for approximately 900,000 physicians, 33,000 pharmacies, 5,500 hospitals and 600 laboratories.
U.S. Labor Department and HHS officials asked UnitedHealth to speed up payments to health care providers in an open letter Sunday.
The Washington Post first reported that White House officials had called on UnitedHealth to provide more emergency funding to health care providers affected by the hack.