UnitedHealth's Change to process $14 billion in medical claims as services come online

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(Reuters) -UnitedHealth Group said on Friday it expects more than $14 billion in medical claims to start flowing soon through its unit Change Healthcare (NASDAQ:CHNG) as several services for handling them gradually come online over the next few weeks following a cyberattack last month.

The cyberattack on Feb. 21 has disrupted payments to U.S. doctors and healthcare facilities nationwide for a month, especially community health centers that serve more than 30 million poor and uninsured patients.

The company has also advanced payments of more than $2.5 billion so far to provide assistance to healthcare providers financially affected by the disruption, an increase from the over $2 billion it had disclosed on Monday.

UnitedHealth (NYSE:UNH) also extended the repayment period for providers, who will now have 45 business days to return the relief funds.

The health insurer said its software for preparing medical claims Assurance went online on Monday, while its largest clearinghouse Relay Exchange will resume on the weekend of March 23.

UnitedHealth had suspended paperwork required to get approval for insurance coverage for most outpatient services, as well as review of inpatient admissions for government-backed Medicare Advantage plans to help those impacted.

The insurer said it will work with payers to ensure there are a maximum number of available locations for claims and is actively coordinating with other clearinghouses to make sure there are no capacity issues.

A clearinghouse acts as a middleman between a healthcare provider and a health plan that checks claims to ensure they do not contain errors before forwarding them for payment.

UnitedHealth also expects to engage all those who submitted claims during the week of