You would think the Obama Administration would figure out how to help the man who discovered the security breach on HealthCare.gov. Yet, seven days after Justin Hadley first reported the problem, he’s still waiting for his account to be deleted.
Hadley logged on to HealthCare.gov last Thursday after his current plan was canceled. Upon discovering the security problem, he contacted the government and shared his story with The Foundry. Last Friday, he also contacted Tom Dougall, the South Carolina man whose information he could access. The two immediately began their search for help.
Hadley called and emailed as several government officials and HealthCare.gov help technicians, but received little response. The Obama Administration finally acknowledged the situation Monday night, blaming a “software code” they were addressing.
But the so-called “fix” only removed Hadley’s ability to download Dougall’s private information. Hadley said he would not be satisfied until all of his personal information was removed from HealthCare.gov.
It wasn’t until Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) confronted Marilyn Tavenner, administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, at a Senate hearing Tuesday morning that Hadley said he was finally contacted by a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services representative who promised he could delete the account.
Yesterday around noon, Hadley received numerous emails “stating the account has been deleted by the professional technicians at HealthCare.gov” and screenshots of the process.
A very relieved Hadley went to show his wife the deleted account after work last night, but was greeted with his HealthCare.gov profile once again. Furious, he emailed The Foundry with time-stamped screenshots of his experience (see photo below) and a plea for help.
Early this morning, Hadley visited HealthCare.gov again to see if something changed overnight and his account is still active.
Hadley notes it has been approximately 162 hours since initial contact with HealthCare.gov and 36 hours (and counting) since the HHS representative promised the issue would be remedied. He’s also still waiting for a response from U.S. Senators Kay Hagan (D-NC) and Richard Burr (R-NC), and Representative Howard Coble (R-NC). He contacted them Saturday.