Doctor's Caucus Press Releases

Washington, D.C. - Today, the co-chairs of the GOP Doctors Caucus and 12 members of the caucus urge immediate action from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) after a significant portion of the American healthcare system was victimized and paralyzed by the February 21st, 2024, Change Healthcare ransomware attack.

"It is imperative that providers, patients, health systems, health plans, and vendors, receive needed information and resources promised by CMS," said the GOP Doctors Caucus co-chairs. "We have heard that commercial insurer payments have been inadequate, unpredictable, and slow, with little support for providers in the process. Some providers are also not receiving resources and administrative flexibility needed from CMS. CMS must recognize and address this serious disruption as soon as possible for the health of patients, the financial viability of providers, and the safety of our critical health infrastructure."

The letter urges CMS to use existing statutory authorities to hold those responsible accountable, address the serious vulnerabilities to domestic health infrastructure this breach revealed, and ensure America's providers receive promised support, resources, and information quickly.

"This attack has disrupted the lives of patients, doctors, pharmacists, and countless other health industry professionals due to outages in systems used for medical billing and insurance claims. If not addressed quickly, alarming reports of the negative implications for our health care system, threats to patient care, access to critical medications, and the ability of physicians to operate their practices will continue," the letter states.

"According to an estimate from Compass Point analyst, Max Reale, based on the volume of impacted health care claims, providers are losing between $500 million and $1 billion in daily revenue compared to 2023, posing severe financial challenges for medical practices already strained for liquidity. Change Healthcare impacts 1 in 3 patient records in the United States, and these delays in claims processing compounded with ongoing workforce shortages and rising inflation will have a severe impact on patient access to timely care," states the letter.

In addition to the GOP Doctors Caucus co-chairs Drs. Brad Wenstrup, D.P.M. (R-OH), Greg Murphy, M.D. (R-NC), and Michael Burgess, M.D. (R-TX), the letter was signed by: Reps. Brian Babin, D.D.S. (R-TX), Larry Buschon, M.D. (R-IN), Earl Carter, Pharm.D. (R-GA), Neal Dunn, M.D. (R-FL), Drew Ferguson, D.M.D. (R-GA), Andy Harris, M.D. (R-MD), Diana Harshbarger, Pharm.D. (R-TN), John Joyce (R-PA), Richard McCormick, M.D. (R-GA), Mariannette Miller-Meeks, M.D. (R-IA), Michael Simpson, D.M.D. (R-ID), and Jefferson Van Drew, D.M.D. (R-NJ).

Read the full letter here.

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