As Republicans prepare to make “Obamacare” a central argument against any incumbents who voted for the 2010 health care reform law, many House Democrats are looking for political cover. So it was on Friday, when a third of the Democratic caucus voted for the latest Republican bill in the U.S. House targeting the law. Pete Kasperowicz reported for The Hill,
The one-sentence bill says that no later than two business days after any security breach on an ObamaCare site is discovered, “the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall provide notice of such breach to each individual.” […] The White House said it opposed the bill, arguing the government already has plans to tell people if their information has been compromised. […]
Democrats said the GOP was trying to stir up fears about HealthCare.gov and the other enrollment sites by raising the idea that people’s personal information could be stolen.
“There have been no successful security attacks on HealthCare.gov, and no one has maliciously accessed personal information,” said Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.). “This is just another one of those scare tactics, and I just hope that my colleagues, both Democrats and Republicans, are not fooled by this.”
The roll call on the “Health Exchange Security and Transparency Act” shows that Iowa Representatives Bruce Braley (IA-01) and Dave Loebsack (IA-02) were among the 67 House Democrats who joined all the Republicans present to approve this bill by a large margin. Neither called attention to the vote with a press release. After the jump I’ve posted the statement from Representative Steve King (IA-04), who has long been one of the most vocal critics of the Affordable Care Act. I didn’t see any statement from Tom Latham (IA-03), who also voted for this bill.
Like the last anti-Obamacare measure Braley and Loebsack supported, this bill will neither become law nor insulate the Democrats from attacks during this year’s campaigns for U.S. Senate or Iowa’s second Congressional district.
Steve King press release, January 10 (emphasis in original):
King Supports Health Exchange Security and Transparency Act
Washington, DC – Congressman Steve King released the following statement after voting in favor of H.R. 3811, the Health Exchange Security and Transparency Act. This act requires Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of Health and Human Services, to notify individuals whose information is stolen from the Healthcare Exchanges within two business days of the breach.
“This Administration has continuously lied to the American people and has been anything but transparent,” said King. “Currently the ObamaCare exchanges pose the possibility of a breach in personal information of individuals signing up for ObamaCare. This bill simply requires the Secretary of HHS notify those individuals within two business days of a breach. The Administration is threatening to veto this bill, which increases government transparency, saying that it would create an ‘administratively burdensome reporting requirement.’
Americans’ personal information is at risk while enrolling in a website to purchase a mandated healthcare package they do not want. The least this Administration can do is notify these individuals in a timely manner so steps can be taken to avoid further damage to their personal identities. I voted for this legislation in order to protect Iowans’ personal information from the largest collection of private data in the history of the United States.”