Security Breach Victim: It Took 5 Days and a Congressional Hearing to Get Government’s Attention
Kelsey Lucas /
It took a congressional hearing for the man whose security was breached on HealthCare.gov to finally get his information removed from the system — a request he made for five days, without any response.
Tom Dougall of South Carolina found out HealthCare.gov exposed his personal information on Friday after receiving a message from a stranger in North Carolina. That man, Justin Hadley, told Dougall he could see his name, address, and eligibility status.
Dougall immediately began reaching out to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. He didn’t hear back until after Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) brought up his story to Marilyn Tavenner, administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, at a Senate hearing Tuesday morning.
“Just think of all the people that don’t have the advantage of having Senator Tim Scott to point it out to Ms. Tavenner,” Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren said during an interview with Dougall last night.
He agrees. While Dougall is thankful his information was supposedly removed, he’s not sure who else might have accessed it and how many other Americans have suffered the same privacy breach. He said on Fox News last night:
According to HealthCare.gov, I’m the only person in America that this has happened to. I find that hard to believe. But more importantly, I don’t know who else besides Justin in North Carolina has my information. There are just no assurances. … HHS finally admitted to me that my information wasn’t secure. We have seen all these stories that the system is not secure, so I have no faith in that system anymore.
Watch the clip above to hear a full account of Dougall’s experience on HealthCare.gov and read more about the reckless rollout of Obamacare.