Healthcare providers hit by frozen payments in ransomware outage

Healthcare providers across the United States are struggling to get paid following the week-long ransomware outage at a key tech unit of UnitedHealth Group, with some smaller providers saying they are already running low on cash. Large hospital chains are also locked out of processing payments with some absorbing the upfront costs of being unable to collect, according to the American Hospital Association (AHA), which represents nearly 5,000 hospitals, healthcare systems, networks and other providers. Reuters could not gauge the full magnitude of the problem, but six small businesses across the United States – five therapists and one laboratory – said they were unable to process claims and were racking up thousands of dollars in overdue payments.