GAO Report: HealthCare.gov Still Not Fully Secure, Has Significant Security Flaws ...

Today in Washington, D.C. - Sept. 17, 2014
The House reconvened at 10 AM, however, with morning speech and administrative House actions, no legislative action was considered until after Noon.

Actions and bills expected to be considered today:
H. Res. 726 — "Strongly supporting the right of the people of Ukraine to freely determine their future, including their country's relationship with other nations and international organizations, without interference, intimidation, or coercion by other countries."
H.R. 24 — "To require a full audit of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Federal reserve banks by the Comptroller General of the United States, and for other purposes."
H.R. 5462 — "To amend title 49, United States Code, to provide for limitations on the fees charged to passengers of air carriers."
H.J. Res. 124 — "Making continuing appropriations for fiscal year 2015, and for other purposes." Editor's comment: This bill if approved by the Senate, keeps the Government running past Sept 2014 including the now pending so called "war" on ISIS and avoids shutting down the government before the Nov. elections.

Yesterday, the House passed the following bills:
H.R. 3043 (Voice Vote) — "To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to clarify the treatment of general welfare benefits provided by Indian tribes."
H.R. 3593 (Voice Vote) — "To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the construction of major medical facilities, and for other purposes."
H.R. 4137 (Voice Vote) — "To prohibit assistance provided under the program of block grants to States for temporary assistance for needy families from being accessed through the use of an electronic benefit transfer card at any store that offers marijuana for sale."
H.R. 4276 (Voice Vote) — "To extend and modify a pilot program on assisted living services for veterans with traumatic brain injury."
H.R. 4994 (Voice Vote) — "To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for standardized post-acute care assessment data for quality, payment, and discharge planning, and for other purposes."
H.R. 5169 (Voice Vote) — "To amend title 5, United States Code, to enhance accountability within the Senior Executive Service, and for other purposes."
H.R. 5170 (Voice Vote) — "To improve Federal employee compliance with the Federal and Presidential recordkeeping requirements, and for other purposes."
H.R. 5404 (Voice Vote) — "To amend title 38, United States Code, to extend certain expiring provisions of law administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes."
H.R. 5405 (320 - 102) — "To make technical corrections to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, to enhance the ability of small and emerging growth companies to access capital through public and private markets, to reduce regulatory burdens, and for other purposes."
H.R. 5418 (Voice Vote) — "To prohibit officers and employees of the Internal Revenue Service from using personal email accounts to conduct official business."
H.R. 5419 (Voice Vote) — "To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide for a right to an administrative appeal relating to adverse determinations of tax-exempt status of certain organizations."
H.R. 5420 (Voice Vote) — "To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to permit the release of information regarding the status of certain investigations."
H.R. 5461 (327 - 97) — "To clarify the application of certain leverage and risk-based requirements under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, to improve upon the definitions provided for points and fees in connection with a mortgage transaction, and for other purposes."
S. 1603 (359 - 64) — "To reaffirm that certain land has been taken into trust for the benefit of the Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatami Indians, and for other purposes."
S. 2154 (410 - 4) — "To amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize the Emergency Medical Services for Children Program."
S. 2258 (Voice Vote) — "To provide for an increase, effective December 1, 2014, in the rates of compensation for veterans with service-connected disabilities and the rates of dependency and indemnity compensation for the survivors of certain disabled veterans, and for other purposes."

Yesterday, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) released a statement responding to a report released today by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) confirming that, contrary to specific promises made by President Obama and Democratic leaders, ObamaCare subsidies are supporting insurance plans that cover abortions: “In 2010, President Obama and the leaders of the Democratic majority in Congress rammed through a government takeover of America’s health care system over the objections of the American people. The measure passed the House in part because the White House and Democratic leaders insisted that ObamaCare would not use taxpayer funds to support elective abortions.

“Today’s GAO report confirms that under the president’s health care law, abortions are being paid for with taxpayer funds by more than 1,000 exchange plans across the country. This information has been hidden from the American public for years by the Obama Administration, which repeatedly denied congressional requests for its public release.

“Common-sense restrictions like the Hyde Amendment have traditionally enjoyed bipartisan support in Congress, and Americans have for decades overwhelmingly rejected the idea of federal funding for abortion. Earlier this year the House passed H.R. 7, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, on a bipartisan basis to prohibit federal funding for such purpose under ObamaCare. Sadly, this legislation has suffered the same fate to date as the dozens of bills passed by the House that would help to create jobs and grow our economy: it has been gathering dust in Senator Reid’s dysfunctional, do-nothing Senate. This GAO report underscores the need for the Senate to do its job and pass this common-sense legislation.”

The Senate reconvened at 10 AM today. Following two hours of morning business, the Senate voted 98-0 to confirm John Bass to be ambassador to Turkey.

The Senate then confirmed nominees to be ambassadors to Zambia, Namibia, and the UN General Assembly by voice vote. Also confirmed by voice vote were an assistant secretary for the Army and a CFO for HUD. Finally, the Senate confirmed by voice vote the nomination of Laura Wertheimer to be Inspector General of the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

Yesterday, the Senate voted 56-44 to confirm Jeffery Baran. and 60-40 to confirm Stephen Burns as members of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

The Hill reports today, “HealthCare.gov is still not fully secure two months out from its second launch date, federal investigators said in a report Tuesday. The nonpartisan Government Accountability Office (GAO) said that while health officials have strengthened parts of the website's security, they failed to implement best practices across the entire system, leaving small weaknesses that place sensitive information ‘at risk.’ ‘Until it addresses shortcomings in both the technical security controls and its information security program, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is exposing HealthCare.gov-related data and its supporting systems to significant risks of unauthorized access, use, disclose, modification and disruption,’ the report stated.”

According to The AP, “The Government Accountability Office said the Obama administration must resolve more than 20 specific security issues related to who can get into the system, who can make changes in it and what to do in case the complex network fails. GAO, the investigative arm of Congress, found that the administration took a major risk going live with HealthCare.gov last fall when the system was still not fully tested. Some testing was incomplete as of June.”

Reuters adds, The General Accounting Office (GAO) said that despite steps taken by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) for security and privacy protection, weaknesses remain in the processes used for managing information security and privacy. The GAO also identified issues regarding the technical implementation of IT security controls. ‘Until these weaknesses are addressed, increased and unnecessary risks remain of unauthorized access, disclosure, or modification of the information collected and maintained by Healthcare.gov...’, the GAO said. The report follows a security breach on the website in August. An unknown computer hacker infiltrated the HealthCare.gov website, apparently uploading malicious files.”

As The AP story noted, “The health care site had numerous technical problems when it was launched last fall and was initially unworkable for most consumers. Among the issues that concerned the administration's own technical experts at the time was that security testing could not be completed because the system was undergoing so many last-minute changes.”

But two months before the site is to open for another round of enrollments, the Obama administration is still struggling with problems from last year, some of which stem from the rush to open it for the first time last fall.

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