Thursday, October 5th, 2017

Senator Tim Scott: Healthcare.gov Privacy Breach Must Be Fixed

Contact: (202) 224-2718

Washington -U.S. Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) addressed blatant violations of privacy on the Healthcare.gov website today in a committee hearing with Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) administrator Marilyn Tavenner.

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Senator Scott addressed a report he received from Tom Dougall of Elgin, SC, who had created an account on Healthcare.gov early last month in order to research insurance plans. Last week, Mr. Dougall heard from another individual, Justin Hadley of North Carolina who had done the same thing and found Mr. Dougall’s private personal information linked to his Healthcare.gov account. Mr. Dougall called the Department of Health and Human Services to have his account deleted and, after multiple attempts, was referred to another federal agency to have the issue resolved.

Senator Scott questioned CMS Administrator Tavenner on the privacy breach during a hearing of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee earlier today. He also addressed multiple administration memos warning that Healthcare.gov carried major privacy risks because the system had not been sufficiently tested for security vulnerabilities before the enrollment period began.

“We’re told constantly that it’s a secure system and it’s not, obviously,” Mr. Dougall told WIS-TV in Columbia, SC.

Failing to receive a response from HHS, Mr. Dougall asked Senator Scott to assist in having his Healthcare.gov account deleted and his private information removed from the database. Senator Scott personally delivered the attached letter to Administrator Tavenner during today’s hearing in an effort to expedite the process.

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