House votes to address potential ObamaCare security breaches

A bipartisan House majority voted Friday to pass legislation to require people to be notified of security breaches under ObamaCare.

The bill, styled the Health Exchange Security and Transparency Act of 2014, passed by a 291-122 vote, with 67 Democrats joining the majority. The legislation would require the Department of Health and Human Services to notify Americans of a breach of security by a federal or state health exchange within two business days.

Fifth District Republican Congressman Robert Hurt issued the following statement after voting in support of the legislation:

“Over the last several months, the House has held four separate hearings on the issue of data security, and through this congressional oversight, we have discovered many unsettling vulnerabilities to personal information within the President’s online healthcare exchanges.  Cybersecurity poses a significant and growing threat to individual privacy, yet the Obama administration has been so focused on getting the health insurance website to function at a basic level that it has not taken sufficient action to ensure that users’ personal and medical information will be protected, which is unacceptable.  I was pleased to see this important legislation pass the House today with bipartisan support, as it brings much-needed security measures to Healthcare.gov and protects Americans’ most private information.  I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues to ensure that the American people are protected from the harmful impacts of the President’s heathcare law, which are becoming more apparent every single day.”