Congressional Republicans are calling on the Obama administration to make sure Healthcare.gov is fully secure before the sign-up period begins in less than two months.
Eight GOP committee leaders in the House and Senate wrote to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on Wednesday with concerns about the site after a new report by the Government Accountability Office found the site’s security lacking, The Hill reported.
“These continuing security issues surrounding HealthCare.gov are cause for concern not just by Congress, but for all Americans who have a right to expect that the government will protect their information,” the GOP lawmakers wrote.
The letter was signed by Sens. Lamar Alexander (Tenn.), Orrin Hatch (Utah), Chuck Grassley (Iowa), Rob Portman (Ohio) and John Thune (S.D.); and Reps. Fred Upton (Mich.), Dave Camp (Mich.) and Darrell Issa (Calif.).
The GAO released a 78-page report Tuesday that said while health officials have strengthened parts of the website’s security, they failed to implement best practices across the entire system. They listed a series of technical steps that were not taken in the construction of the website.
“Until it addresses shortcomings in both the technical security controls and its information security program, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is exposing HealthCare.gov-related data and its supporting systems to significant risks of unauthorized access, use, disclose, modification and disruption, the report stated.
Debate over these security flaws is likely to dominate a House Oversight Committee hearing scheduled for Thursday.
