...HIGH WIND WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 PM MDT THIS EVENING...
* WHAT...West winds 30 to 40 mph with gusts up to 60 mph expected.
* WHERE...Much of southeast Wyoming including Cheyenne, Laramie,
Wheatland, Rawlins, and Torrington. This also includes Interstate
25 from Cheyenne to Glendo.
* WHEN...Until 9 PM MDT this evening.
* IMPACTS...Mainly to transportation. Strong cross winds will be
hazardous to light weight or high profile vehicles, including
campers and tractor trailers.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
A High Wind Warning means a hazardous high wind event is expected or
occurring. Sustained wind speeds of at least 40 MPH or gusts of 58
MPH or stronger can lead to property damage.
&&
Wyoming pharmacies and providers are still dealing with the impacts of a cyber-attack on Change Healthcare, more than a month later, with no clear end in sight.
In February, the unprecedented attack resulted in nationwide disruptions to payment processing systems at pharmacies, hospitals and clinics. The full scope of the impacts from this attack are still unfolding, but there is no doubt that they have been far-reaching.
According to Change Healthcare, they touch one in every three patient records, which has meant that providers everywhere have been unable to process insurance claims for treating patients or filling prescriptions. In fact, the American Hospital Association found that 94% of hospitals have been financially impacted by the cyber-attack.
While work-arounds have been implemented in some cases, and a few lucky providers did business with different billing companies, many providers are finding more than a month in that the bills are piling up, with no way to collect income due to them.
In rural states like Wyoming, where the distances between patients and providers can be significant, and the options limited, we simply cannot afford disruptions like this one. Not only do these companies need better protections against cyber-criminals, but we also need to take a hard look at why one company is handling such a high percentage of claims. The concentration of market share to a single company is bad for the entire system, and especially hurts rural patients.
Congress was hoping to ask some hard questions about exactly these issues during a recent House Finance and Commerce Committee hearing. However, they did not get a chance, because UnitedHealth Group did not send a representative.
It is imperative that Andrew Witty, the CEO of UnitedHealth Group, which owns Change Healthcare, appears at an upcoming Senate Finance Committee hearing on April 30 so we can finally get answers about this catastrophic attack. UnitedHealth Group itself is a huge, multinational insurance company that also employs the most doctors in the country, and its PBM OptumRx is one of three PBMs that control 80% of our prescription drug market.
Given the size of companies like UnitedHealth Group, it’s no surprise that a single cyber-attack would have such far-reaching impacts. I hope this crisis has made Congress realize that we can’t afford to let health care consolidation grow unchecked.
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