Medicare announced on Saturday that it will make advance payments available to physician groups, hospitals, and other health care facilities as part of its response to the February 21 Change Healthcare cyberattack.
The payments are meant to fund providers that aren’t able to submit claims to Medicare because of the disruption to Change’s data network and have exhausted all other potential avenues of funding. Medicare will advance up to 30 days of payment, based on the average monthly amount a provider received from Medicare from August 1 to October 31, 2023. The providers are expected to repay the money 90 days after receiving the payment, with interest beginning to accrue 30 days after that.
“We welcome today’s announcement and will continue to work with policymakers as the impacts from the cyberattack persist,” the American Hospital Association said in a statement after the announcement.