Information for Medi-Share Members about Medical Bill Processing

Update as of October 24, 2024. We will provide updates on this page as more information becomes available.

What You Need to Know as Members.

 

Change Healthcare, one of the vendors Medi-Share uses for bill processing, experienced a cyber security issue in February of 2024 that affected millions of customers across the country. Learn More Here.

To protect user data, they immediately isolated and disconnected the impacted systems, but doing so interrupted Medi-Share’s ability to submit bills electronically. This “pause” in medical bill sharing was a result of the vendor’s system outage, and not a result of Medi-Share’s ability or inability to facilitate sharing of medical bills.

As of April 4, 2024, Medi-Share fully resumed medical bill processing for electronically submitted (EDI) bills. Paper Provider bill submissions may still be delayed; therefore, we encourage providers to submit electronically when able.

As of May 10, 2024, Change Healthcare is currently working to determine the extent of the impact on their data as a result of this event. As this process may take months, UnitedHealth Group is providing free credit monitoring and identity theft protection for two years to anyone who could potentially be affected.

As we do not know at this time if any Medi-Share member data was compromised, we encourage members to take advantage of this FREE service to mitigate any potential risk. If and when we receive notification of a data breach from Change Healthcare/UnitedHealth Group, we will notify impacted members as required by law.

As of October 24, 2024, Change Healthcare is actively mailing out letters to all impacted individuals as a closeout to the issue. For more detailed information, visit this Healthcare Dive web page.

How do I sign up for the FREE credit monitoring and identity theft protection?
  1. Call the Change Healthcare Event Line: 866-262-5342 to talk to a representative who will explain the service provided by IDX
  2. If interested, the Change Healthcare Representative will transfer you to IDX (888-846-4705)
  3. You provide the information required for Enrollment: First and last name, address, phone number, and email address
  4. Enrollment happens immediately and information about setting up your login and activating the service is sent by email
  5. It is recommended that every adult member in your Medi-Share household sign up for this service
What happened that is causing a delay in my bills being shared?

Change Healthcare, the vendor that Medi-Share uses for bill processing, experienced a cyber-attack on February 21, 2024. To protect user data, they immediately isolated and disconnected the impacted systems, but doing so halted their ability to serve thousands of insurers, as well as the members of Medi-Share. You can learn more about Change Healthcare and review their updates here.

What does CCM/Medi-Share use Change Healthcare to do?

Change Healthcare is a nationwide provider of services across the health system that makes clinical, administrative, and financial processes more efficient for payers, providers, and consumers.  

Change Healthcare was the vendor CCM/Medi-Share used for bill processing, provider verification, to remit payments on behalf of members to providers along with an Explanation of Payment, and produce the Explanation of Sharing statements for all member bills. 

Did the cyber-attack impact any CCM/Medi-Share systems?

No. The cybersecurity issue is specific to Change Healthcare. 

What is the status of Change Healthcare? Is CCM/Medi-Share still using this company?

As of March 18, 2024, medical claims software came back online through Optum Insight and CCM/Medi-Share was able to resume bill processing. A new vendor was selected for payments and preparation of the Explanation of Sharing statements.

If bill processing has resumed, why do I still have older bills that have not been shared?

At this time, bill processing has fully resumed, and remittance of payment to providers on behalf of members is back on track. This began in April, and as of May, the backlog of electronically submitted bills has been caught up. However, there may be a delay in processing and payment of bills that were mailed. Efforts to process those bills manually are underway and those should be processed soon.

What do I do if my provider sends me a late notice or bill due?

The issue with Change Healthcare impacted tens of thousands of providers throughout the country. Most, if not all, should be aware of the work stoppage and delays caused by Change Healthcare shutting down its systems. If a provider sends you a late notice or bill due, you can explain that your healthcare sharing program, Medi-Share, was impacted by the Change Healthcare issue and that sharing resumed in April. 

Why did CCM/Medi-Share get a new vendor for provider payments?

Although bill processing functionality has resumed, Change Healthcare has not yet resumed provider payment functionality. Without a definitive timeline, Medi-Share decided to pursue an alternative vendor to ensure a return to full bill sharing capabilities as soon as possible. 

Special Instructions for Maryland Members:

Payments to providers typically come from Medi-Share on behalf of other members’ sharing dollars. However, Maryland members are responsible for paying providers directly. For complete instructions for those living in Maryland, visit this page. 

Checks will be distributed to you as soon as we are able to process them.

Special Instructions for Value Members:

Medi-Share Value members are responsible for paying providers directly. For more information, log into your Member Center.

Reimbursement check distribution has fully resumed.