Kevin Kiley Urges RFK Jr. To Investigate CA Obamacare Exchange's Release Of Personal Health Info

Forbes Breaking News

During remarks on the House floor, Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-CA) asked Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to launch an investigation into

Transcript

00:00Mr. Speaker, an investigation by CalMatters has revealed something extremely disturbing

00:08when it comes to the personal health information of Californians.

00:14It's been revealed that Covered California, which is the state's Obamacare exchange,

00:21its website had a tracker that was collecting the personal health information of Californians

00:28and then transmitting that information for marketing purposes.

00:34Specifically, the CalMatters investigation discovered that trackers on the website of Covered California

00:41collected and sent personal information to LinkedIn through one of the company's trackers called an insight tag.

00:49This information included very personal health information, whether the individual was blind, disabled, pregnant,

00:56whether they used prescription drugs, their gender identity, whether they're a victim of domestic abuse,

01:03how often they sought care at in- or outpatient facilities.

01:07A spokesperson for Covered California even admitted they installed these trackers as part of a marketing campaign.

01:14And the trackers, by the way, were not removed until this CalMatters report was public.

01:20This illegal action was undertaken despite the fact that LinkedIn has publicly advised on their website

01:28that the insight tags, quote, should not be installed on web pages that collect or contain sensitive data

01:35and that pages offering specific health-related or financial services or products to consumers

01:41that should not be there either.

01:43But despite these warnings, Covered California proceeded, and I believe this raises a serious issue under HIPAA,

01:53a law designed to protect the privacy of individuals' personal health information.

02:01So I have written to Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy, to ask for an investigation into what happened in California,

02:11into how this was allowed to happen, and to any legal violations that may have occurred.

02:16Specifically, I'm asking Secretary Kennedy to investigate whether Covered California violated HIPAA or any other laws.

02:24Who authorized the use of the trackers?

02:26What controls exist to protect privacy in California's Affordable Care Act exchange?

02:32How did Covered California evade those controls?

02:35How many people have been impacted?

02:37Have they been notified?

02:38Has there been any restitution?

02:40Why did Covered California use the trackers contrary to LinkedIn's explicit guidance?

02:46And I am asking how this sort of violation can be prevented in the future.

02:53This is truly unacceptable, and I look forward to getting some answers from this investigation.

03:00Because of this, we have to take questions from my secretary.

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