March 12 (Reuters) - White House officials met with

UnitedHealth Group ( UNH ) CEO Andrew Witty and others in the

industry on Tuesday to discuss a hack at the healthcare

conglomerate's tech unit that has disrupted operations across

the United States.

The meeting was the first to bring together providers such

as hospitals and payers such as health insurers, said a

spokesperson from the Department of Health and Human Services

(HHS), adding that daily individual meetings have been held with

all involved parties since the hack.

UnitedHealth ( UNH ) did not immediately respond to a Reuters

request for comment.

The cyberattack on UnitedHealth's ( UNH ) tech unit Change

Healthcare late last month, perpetrated by hackers who

identified themselves as the "Blackcat" ransomware group, has

had a knock-on effect on players across the U.S. healthcare

system.

The unit acts as a financial clearing house for pharmacy

benefit managers (PBMs). PBMs help employers and health plans

create lists of medications covered by insurance plans and

reimburse pharmacies for patients' prescriptions.

Change processes about 50% of medical claims in the U.S. for

around 900,000 physicians, 33,000 pharmacies, 5,500 hospitals

and 600 laboratories.

Officials from the U.S. Department of Labor and HHS in an

open letter on Sunday had asked UnitedHealth ( UNH ) to expedite

payments to healthcare providers.

The Washington Post first reported that White House

officials urged UnitedHealth ( UNH ) to make more emergency funding

available to healthcare providers affected by the hack.