Change Healthcare: the ransomware that stopped the U.S. from billing a prescription

Change Healthcare clears an enormous share of prescriptions and medical claims in the United States. On February 21, 2024, the ALPHV ransomware — BlackCat — encrypted its systems. Pharmacies could not confirm coverage. Hospitals billed blind. Small clinics had no cash.

Andrew Witty, CEO of UnitedHealth, which owns Change, told Congress the company paid a $22 million ransom. The group still fractured in public, and the data kept moving.

Months later, the federal breach notice grew to about 190 million people: histories, diagnoses, insurance numbers. This is not a leak from one hospital. It is the pipe that payment for care runs through.

The parallel with Colonial Pipeline is uncomfortable. There it was gasoline. Here it was knowing whether the medicine is covered.