AOA supports doctors of optometry facing UnitedHealth cyberattack loan repayment

If UnitedHealth Group is seeking repayment of financial assistance provided to your practice after the Change Healthcare cyberattack last year, the AOA wants to hear about it. 

In February 2024, UnitedHealth faced what was considered the largest reported health care cyber breach in history—a disruption that reportedly cost medical providers as much as $1 billion a day. In the wake of the attack, UnitedHealth offered providers no-interest loans to help with cash flow. 

Then, earlier this month, CNBC reported that UnitedHealth was seeking immediate repayment of outstanding loan balances, which, in some cases, topped hundreds of thousands of dollars. 

“While the widespread impact of the Change Healthcare cyberattack is still reverberating through practices across the country, it is egregious for UnitedHealth Group to press doctors to pay back loans when they are still suffering the repercussions of the breach,” says AOA President Steven T. Reed, O.D. “Just as the AOA Foundation stepped up to support doctors in 2024, the AOA is taking up the mantle to support doctors in this time of need.”  

The AOA plans to engage UnitedHealth based on reports from impacted doctors. 

AOA Foundation steps in to support doctors 

This is not the first time the AOA has helped optometrists impacted by the UnitedHealth cyber breach. A month after the attack, The AOA Foundation announced that Optometry’s Fund for Disaster Relief (OFDR) would recognize the attack as an eligible disaster. (Qualifying disasters typically include hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes and civil unrest.) 

The foundation awarded $120,550 in grants to 150 doctors impacted by the cyberattack. 

All told, OFDR has provided more than $1.5 million in financial relief to some 700 optometrists and students facing critical and urgent needs, such as food, clothing and shelter. In response to Hurricane Ian in 2022, for instance, OFDR awarded $62,000 in grants to 24 doctors of optometry to cover widespread losses in Florida. 

Grants are no longer available for the UnitedHealth cyber breach, but doctors and students of optometry can get more information on OFDR and apply for other qualifying grants here. The OFDR Committee aims to respond to applications within 5-7 business days.