UnitedHealth-owned Change Healthcare has updated the total number of people affected by its ransomware data breach from last year: 192.7 million.
That’s almost double from the 100 million that Change reported to HHS last year and up from the estimate of “one-third of all Americans” then-UnitedHealth Group CEO Andrew Witty gave when he testified before Congress last spring. (That would be roughly 114 million, according to the estimates on the U.S. Census’ website.) The claims clearinghouse and payment processor is also going to shut down its affected victims call center and stop enrolling people in its complimentary credit monitoring and identity theft protection services on August 26, according to a notice on its website.
UnitedHealth also earlier this year reported a hack affecting at least 5.4 million people at Episource, a risk management platform UnitedHealth acquired in 2023. Earlier this week, senators Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) sent UnitedHealth CEO Stephen Hemsley a letter questioning UnitedHealth’s ability to secure its subsidiaries’ systems due to the Episource breach. Both Episource and Change Healthcare have ongoing class-action lawsuits against them because of the data breaches.
from Politico:
Q2 RESULTS ARE IN — Over the past few weeks, major health insurers reported their mid-year earnings, and the results have been largely mixed. Some have slashed their yearly guidance amid cost pressures, while others are performing in line with or exceeding their expectations. But one common theme prevailed across the insurers’ reports in the second quarter: Medical costs continue to be elevated. And looming federal policy changes are leaving insurers — especially those with large Medicaid and Affordable Care Act businesses — uncertain about the future of the health insurance marketplaces they operate in. Why it matters: Insurers will adjust their pricing for 2026 to address those uncertainties — which include the expiration of enhanced Obamacare subsidies at the end of the year, unless Congress acts, and provisions in the GOP’s One Big, Beautiful Bill Act that cut Medicaid spending and crack down on ACA enrollment verification. That means consumers are sure to see a jump in premiums for next year. The latest: On Wednesday, Oscar Health, which mainly offers ACA plans, was the last of the major insurers to report its earnings. The company slashed its yearly guidance a few weeks ago amid elevated Obamacare costs as more people seek out medical care. In the weeks leading up to that, competitors Centene, Elevance Health and Molina Healthcare did the same. Oscar said Wednesday its medical loss ratio — the percentage it pays out on medical claims compared to administrative costs — was 91.1 percent in the second quarter, up 12 points compared to the same time last year, largely because the enrollee population is sicker. The market will likely have “double-digit rate increases next year” as a result, said Oscar Health CEO Mark Bertolini during an earnings call. A key takeaway: An uptick in enrollees seeking out medical care has been a common theme across major insurers in Q2. UnitedHealth Group, the largest insurer and typically an industry bellwether, has struggled with higher-than-expected medical costs this year, particularly as older adults in Medicare Advantage seek care. Executives partly attributed its cost struggle to insufficient Medicare Advantage payment rates finalized by the Biden administration. The company also saw elevated cost pressures in its Medicaid and Obamacare businesses, similar to Centene, Molina and Oscar. Bucking the trend: While all the major insurers noted that medical costs continue to be elevated, some were better positioned to weather that trend in the second quarter, likely because of adjustments to plan pricing and benefit cuts they made last year in anticipation of rising costs. Humana, a large Medicare Advantage insurer, has taken a more conservative approach to benefits in the past few years after it first noticed a rise in costs as older adults sought out care more frequently. The company’s medical costs were largely in line with expectations in the second quarter of 2025. CVS Health’s Aetna, which shook up its leadership last year after it struggled to control costs with more members seeking medical care, has seen continual improvements in cost savings throughout 2025, executives said during its earnings call. And Cigna recently reaffirmed its 2025 guidance, as cost trends were elevated but still in line with its expectations. |
