ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - A cyberattack that affected pharmacies nationwide has affected pharmacies in Alaska since the attack was first detected on Wednesday. UnitedHealth Group said that its subsidiary, Change Healthcare, experienced a breach in its information technology systems that process insurance for pharmacies nationwide. According to concerned patients and providers in the Anchorage area, some patients are unable to use certain pharmacies, and in other cases, some pharmacies cannot confirm and bill patient insurance. “My patients can’t get their meds through certain pharmacies, and then the pharmacies can’t verify the insurance,” said Shannon Davis, a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner who practices in Eagle River. It gets closer each day.....
Better have a stash of any prescription drugs that you and yours NEED to live and function...as least for awhile!
Now, this is an entirely new and innovative idea that I bet no one saw coming! LOL! Probably will blackmail the insurance companies... Damn smart. Deadly too. Man-oh-man, just think what it will look like if/when things get serious with this Cyber Warfare...truly the end of civilization. It will be a complete and total mess for years, maybe decades or more.
Medical care (using that term very loosely) is so intertwined with the Insurance cartels - that any disruption of the digital ecology is disastrous.. Add in most medical records are non-paper and you can see just how big the mess could become.
I called my PCP for a refill this morning and was warned that the pharmacy I use may have trouble filling it. Then, a few minutes later, got a phone call from my PCP's office warning me again and giving me options of using another pharmacy or getting the prescription hardcopy so I could shop around. This sucks! To err is human, to really hose things up takes a computer.
My pharmacy couldn't verify insurance and offered to sell my prescription for 20X the normal price. I'm not due yet so I didn't cough up the $1500.
I switched to a local maw and pa operation 6 months ago vs Walgreens who had bought out Super 1 pharmacy. Lots less headaches dealing local
