We're taking a break for the month of April, but we wanted to make sure that you still got excellent content. Last year, Change Healthcare, a subsidiary of UnitedHealthGroup, faced a ransomware attack by cybersecurity pirates that essentially took down the entire country's healthcare reimbursement structure. Last week, UnitedHealth apparently tried to recoup "loans" (read: not loans, read: early payments) in the midst of this debacle. This week we're reposting our chock-full-of-gossip episode (from last year) on the cybersecurity attack that targeted Change Healthcare. Kelly and Lalita go down the rabbit hole on consolidation, cyberattacks, and how family physicians need to understand and advocate for economic system change and data responsibility. We've got more information elaborating on this fascinating story in our show notes. **Update to the Albertsons-Kroger Merger: this did not go through, Albertsons is now suing Kroger for a breach of contract** 1. Whittaker, Zack. "As the Change Healthcare outage drags on, fears grow that patient data could spill online." TechCrunch., 9 March 2024. [https://techcrunch.com/2024/03/09/change-healthcare-fears-data-breach-ransomware/](https://techcrunch.com/2024/03/09/change-healthcare-fears-data-breach-ransomware/) 2. Whittaker, Zack. "UnitedHealth confirms ransomware gang behind Change Healthcare hack amid ongoing pharmacy outages." TechCrunch., 29 February 2024. [https://techcrunch.com/2024/02/29/unitedhealth-change-healthcare-ransomware-alphv-blackcat-pharmacy-outages/](https://techcrunch.com/2024/02/29/unitedhealth-change-healthcare-ransomware-alphv-blackcat-pharmacy-outages/) 3. Pierce, Alisa. "CMS Announces Flexibilities Following Cyberattack." Texas Medical Association. 8 March 2024. [https://www.texmed.org/Template.aspx?id=63784](https://www.texmed.org/Template.aspx?id=63784). 4. Whittaker, Zack. "Ransomware attack blamed for Change Healthcare outage stalling US prescriptions." TechCrunch. 26 February 2024. [https://techcrunch.com/2024/02/26/ransomware-attack-change-healthcare-prescription-pharmacy-outages/](https://techcrunch.com/2024/02/26/ransomware-attack-change-healthcare-prescription-pharmacy-outages/) 5. Diamond, Dan. "Medicare announces emergency funds for doctors affected by Change Healthcare hack." The Washington Post. 9 March 2024. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2024/03/09/medicare-change-healthcare-hack/](https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2024/03/09/medicare-change-healthcare-hack/). 6. "U.S. and Plaintiff States v. UnitedHealth Group, Inc. and Change Healthcare Inc." AntiTrust Division, United States Department of Justice. [https://www.justice.gov/atr/case/us-et-al-v-unitedhealth-group-inc-and-change-healthcare-inc](https://www.justice.gov/atr/case/us-et-al-v-unitedhealth-group-inc-and-change-healthcare-inc) 7. The Paul Weiss Antitrust Practice. "Takeaways from the DOJ’s UnitedHealth-Change Healthcare Merger Loss" 3 October 2022. [https://www.paulweiss.com/practices/litigation/antitrust/publications/takeaways-from-the-doj-s-unitedhealth-change-healthcare-merger-loss?id=44360](https://www.paulweiss.com/practices/litigation/antitrust/publications/takeaways-from-the-doj-s-unitedhealth-change-healthcare-merger-loss?id=44360) 8. Office of Public Affairs. "Justice Department Sues to Block UnitedHealth Group’s Acquisition of Change Healthcare." United States Department of Justice. 24 February 2022. [https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-sues-block-unitedhealth-group-s-acquisition-change-healthcare](https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-sues-block-unitedhealth-group-s-acquisition-change-healthcare). 9. American Academy of Family Physicians. "Ethical Application of Artificial Intelligence in Family Medicine." Policy. August 2023. [https://www.aafp.org/about/policies/all/ethical-ai.html](https://www.aafp.org/about/policies/all/ethical-ai.html) 10. "HHS Statement Regarding the Cyberattack on Change Healthcare." United States Department of Health and Human Services. 5 March 2024. [https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2024/03/05/hhs-statement-regarding-the-cyberattack-on-change-healthcare.html](https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2024/03/05/hhs-statement-regarding-the-cyberattack-on-change-healthcare.html)