Robert Hurt introduces bill to protect privacy on HealthCare.gov

Congressman Robert Hurt (R-Virginia) released the following statement after introducing H.R. 1446, the Healthcare Consumer Privacy Act, along with Congressman Collin Peterson (D-Minnesota), which will enable individuals to remove their profiles from the federal healthcare website, HealthCare.gov:

“Consumers are required to enter personally identifiable and often sensitive information just to browse healthcare plans on HealthCare.gov.  Given the extensive issues with the website, Fifth District Virginians are understandably concerned by the federal government holding their information.  Cybersecurity vulnerabilities pose a significant threat to individual privacy, but this Administration was so focused on getting HealthCare.gov to function at a basic level that it did not take sufficient action to ensure that users’ personal information will be protected, despite spending two billion dollars of taxpayer money to build the site.  Clearly, major cybersecurity risks exist within the online federal marketplace, and these grave security concerns make it even more imperative that individuals have the ability to remove their personal information permanently from HealthCare.gov, which this bill would enable.

“The bipartisan Healthcare Consumer Privacy Act is a direct response to these concerns about privacy and the protection of personal information for those using HealthCare.gov, and it is a compliment to the robust oversight we in the House are conducting to press the Administration to protect this data.  It is my hope that this bill moves swiftly through the legislative process, and I look forward to working with Representative Peterson and my colleagues to ensure that individual privacy is protected.”

Congressman Peterson said, “Consumers should have the right to shop around for health insurance without revealing personal information which may expose them to privacy violations.  This legislation is just one of many ways members on both sides of the aisle can work together in Congress to protect consumers’ private information.”