Second quarter earnings beat analyst expectations at UnitedHealth Group, even as the Minnetonka-based health care giant said it saw more expenses in the fallout from a massive cyberattack earlier this year.
The company now expects cyberattack costs could reach $2.45 billion for the year, including more direct expenses for financial support for health care providers and consumer notifications that will begin later this month.
The hack forced UnitedHealth Group to shut down a widely used claims processing system at its Change Healthcare subsidiary to contain the threat.
Health care providers have struggled to bill for their services because of the system outage, prompting UnitedHealth Group to provide more than $9 billion so far in advance funding and interest-free loans — compared with more than $6 billion as of April.
“We operate in an environment where change is constant,” Chief Executive Andrew Witty said during a call with investors. “What you’ve come to see is that when changes happen, foreseen or unforeseen, we just deal with it.”