Government opens investigation into UnitedHealth cyber attack

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has launched a probe into the February 21 cyberattack on UnitedHealth Group’s Change Healthcare in an effort to determine if the company adhered to U.S. health privacy laws and whether there was a breach of protected health data.

“Given the unprecedented magnitude of this cyberattack and in the best interest of patients and health care providers,” the HHS Office for Civil Rights is launching an investigation into the attack, the health department said. Unite Health said it would cooperate with the probe.

Change Healthcare processes around half of medical claims in America, working with around 900,000 physicians, 5,500 hospitals, 600 laboratories and 33,000 pharmacies. UnitedHealth has not shared what patient data may have been breached, and said “Our immediate focus is to restore our systems, protect data and support those whose data may have been impacted.”