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Paulsen Introduces Bill Requiring Privacy Protections in Obamacare Exchanges

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 19th, 2013

CONTACT: Philip Minardi, (202) 225-9203 or Philip.Minardi@mail.house.gov

Paulsen Introduces Bill Requiring Privacy Protections in Obamacare Exchanges

Legislation Requires Exchanges Certify Privacy Protections for Participants

Washington, D.C. – Congressman Erik Paulsen (MN-03) introduced legislation requiring privacy protections be put in place before Obamacare exchanges open. Recently, an employee at Minnesota’s health insurance exchange accidentally emailed the Social Security numbers, names, business addresses, and other identifying information on more than 2,400 individuals to an insurance broker’s office. Congressman Paulsen’s legislation, The Healthcare Information Privacy Protection Act, requires the Department of Health and Human Services and states implementing exchanges, to certify they have protections in place that will definitively prevent future privacy breaches before the exchanges can go into effect. Representatives John Kline (R-MN), Leonard Lance (R-NJ), and Tom Reed (R-NY) joined Rep. Paulsen in introducing the legislation.
 
“Millions of Americans will be mandated into these healthcare exchanges and participants deserve the confidence to know their personal information, including social security numbers, is safe,” said Congressman Paulsen. “Congress must take action to ensure that patient's personal information is not compromised. This security breach is likely just the tip of the iceberg and yet another example of why the Affordable Care Act is not ready for prime time.”
 
Minnesota’s statewide health insurance exchange, MNsure, has come under investigation by the state’s Legislative Auditor's Office for the security breach, and just this week, Minnesota’s Legislative Auditor James Nobles, expressed his concerns about how quickly MNsure is being implemented.
 
“Over the past three years, ObamaCare has sent the nation down a costly path of bureaucracy and broken promises,” said Congressman Kline. “In the same haphazard way the fatally flawed law was written in Washington, states are scrambling to meet an unrealistic deadline for implementing ObamaCare without ensuring the proper security measures are in place. Congressman Paulsen’s legislation requires HHS and states to apply necessary safeguards to protect the privacy of millions of Americans.”
 
“Without proper protections in place, Obamacare is asking American families across the country to blindly submit their confidential information,” said Congressman Tom Reed. “We’ve already seen too many mistakes, too much confusion, and too many taxpayer dollars going toward this problem-riddled law. Taxpayers deserve to have their information protected, and this bill will rightfully give them reassurance their private information is secure.”
 
"Many legitimate questions remain concerning the federal government’s ability to safeguard the personal and financial records of millions of Americans," said Congressman Lance, a member of the House Communications and Technology Subcommittee. "That’s why I support delaying the implementation of Obamacare until we can better understand the hub’s vast scope and its unprecedented potential for theft or abuse of Americans’ personal information. Time is of the essence."
 
According to an industry study, as many as ninety-four percent of healthcare organizations suffered at least one data breach during the past two years and 45 percent experienced more than five data breaches over a two year period.  While the Minnesota security breach was an accidental file transmission, we know that personal healthcare, income, identity, and other information are major targets for international hackers and identity thieves.
 
Paulsen, a champion of small business and advocate of free enterprise, entrepreneurship, and innovation, serves on the House Ways and Means Committee, the bicameral Joint Economic Committee, and is co-chair of the Congressional Medical Technology Caucus.
 
For more information on Rep. Paulsen’s work in Congress visit www.paulsen.house.gov.
 
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