New information shows that exchanges were developed hastily by the federal government
Health insurance exchanges in the U.S. could have been plagued by serious security issues as they were being formed, according to information from the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Several states had opted to allow the federal government to develop insurance exchanges rather than building these exchanges themselves. Because the federal government faced a serious deadline concerning getting these exchanges up and running. As such, the government may have left some aspects of the exchange network vulnerable.
Federal government overlooked some security issues when developing exchanges
According to the information provided by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, the federal government had been frantically working to develop federal exchanges while also juggling a range of security issues that have proven difficult to rectify. While many of these vulnerabilities have been resolved without any serious issue, the information suggests that the government has been somewhat cavalier with its attempts to ensure that exchanges are up and running on time.
States allowed to connect to federal network without proper review process
In order for states to connect to the federal exchange network, they must first receive approval. The information from the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee shows that the government had been providing access to the federal exchange network regardless of whether or not those trying to connect to the network were secure or not. The information also shows that many federal exchanges were lacking security solutions, leaving them vulnerable to hackers and malicious groups that would seek to take advantage of consumer information.
Security issues likely rectified by federal government and contractors
The contractors that were responsible for building the exchange network had raised concerns over the security of the network several times. Because the deadline concerning the operation of these exchanges was approaching quickly, however, the federal government opted to ensure that the exchanges were working by the October 1 deadline. Many of the security issues that had existed with exchanges in the past, however, are likely to have been laid to rest.
