Change Healthcare has been sued by Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers over its negligent cybersecurity practices, which resulted in the massive cyberattack earlier this year that impacted nearly 100 million Americans and disrupted health providers across the U.S., reports The Record, a news site by cybersecurity firm Recorded Future.
Aside from leading to the deferral of patient care and prescription processing, such an attack against Change Healthcare has also led to the proliferation of malicious actors purporting to be hospital representatives to obtain credit card numbers, as well as excessive burdens for health providers, according to the lawsuit. "Healthcare providers, including critical access hospitals in rural areas, have unfairly been forced to absorb financial pain, forcing major cash flow issues and, in some cases, delayed services. And to make matters worse, Change has woefully disregarded the duty to provide notice to Nebraskans, depriving them of a fighting chance to be prepared for possible scams and fraud," said Hilgers. Change Healthcare parent UnitedHealth Group expressed intentions to fight the suit, which it noted to lack merit.
