Scalise helps pass bill to protect consumers from Obamacare data breaches

Washington, D.C. - Republican Study Committee Chairman Steve Scalise today issued the following statement after the House passed the Health Exchange Security and Transparency Act of 2014. The legislation requires the Department of Health and Human Services to notify individuals of any breach on the health care law exchanges (both state and federal) that endangers personal data and information within 2 business days.

“American families expect and deserve to know if their personal information has been stolen through breaches to President Obama’s health care web site,” Scalise said. “Investigative hearings we have held exposed the fact that the Obamacare web site cannot be trusted to protect the sensitive private data of people who enter their personal information into the healthcare.gov system. Our bill requires the federal government to notify any person if their private information is stolen through breaches in the health care website. Healthcare.gov went live before a full Security Control Assessment had been completed, jeopardizing personal information entered on the website.

“The fact that the administration opposes this legislation begs the question - what does President Obama have against protecting privacy of American families? If the Obama administration is going to mandate that individuals use the Federal exchange to get covered, they ought to at least ensure that private information be protected, and if there is a breach they ought to at least notify American families who have been impacted.”