Healthcare cyberattacks have been happening with greater regularity over the past year, and a quartet of bipartisan senators is questioning whether the federal government is doing enough to protect healthcare data.
The senators wrote to the Obama administration on Tuesday asking what is being done to help aid identity theft victims and prevent future cyberattacks. The letter comes as the healthcare industry has been besieged by a series of high-profile hacks of medical data from insurers such as Anthem and Carefirst BlueCross Blue Shield.
“Sizable and damaging breaches continue as a result of traditional threats, including unauthorized access and disclosure and loss or theft of laptops,” said Sens. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Patty Murray, D-Wash.
The senators wrote to the Office of Civil Rights and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, both of which work on identity theft.
Since 2009, nearly 154 million individuals have been affected by data breaches at healthcare organizations such as insurers or hospitals, according to federal data.
The lawmakers wanted the agencies to answer a series of questions about how they help prevent identity theft and assist its victims.
For instance, the senators want to know the amount of support the federal government offers to state, federal and local law enforcement in response to medical identity theft.
They also wanted to know if the Department of Health and Human Services monitors the effects of data breaches at other agencies, such as the Office of Personnel Management, which was targeted by hackers earlier this year.
