CMS Head Can’t Promise ObamaCare Site Safe From Potential Hackers

‘We follow all the standards to protect information’

JOHNSON: "I'd like to bring to your ion a story which ran last week in Mother Jones with the headline, quote, 'How HealthCare.gov Could Be Hacked.' Let me just quote from the article. 'Security experts say the federal health insurance web site is vulnerable to a common technique that hackers use to steal personal information.' As you may know, I'm chairman of Social Security Subcommittee, and one of my longest outstanding priorities has been to protect Americans' Social Security numbers. So for the record, is ObamaCare website 100 percent safe from hackers who could steal Americans' personal information including their Social Security numbers, yes or no?"
TAVENNER: "We follow all the standards to protect information including Social Security numbers."
JOHNSON: "Are you trying to say yes?"
TAVENNER: "Am I trying to say, yes, that we follow the standards to protect information, yes, sir."
JOHNSON: "You know, folks are confused and scared. They've heard horror stories and are now experiencing them firsthand. How can they trust the federal government to not only fix the website, but more importantly, give them the assurance that their personal information will be safe and their health care will be affordable? That if they want to keep their current plan, they can do so? The problems don't stop at the technical failures of a website. The real problem stems from the colossal failure to deliver what this law promised the American people."

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