Change Healthcare (2024)

On February 21, 2024, Change Healthcare — a UnitedHealth subsidiary processing roughly one-third of US healthcare payment claims — was attacked by BlackCat/ALPHV ransomware. The shutdown crippled pharmacy fulfillment, claims processing, and revenue cycle management nationwide for weeks. UnitedHealth disclosed the breach affected approximately 190M Americans, making it the largest US healthcare breach on record. UnitedHealth has reported $2.87B in direct costs as of FY2024 reports; sector-wide downstream costs (pharmacy cash-flow disruption, hospital revenue gaps, delayed care) are not consolidated. The incident demonstrates the systemic-risk profile of healthcare clearinghouses.