Perhaps it’s not surprising, but there are dangers in ObamaCare being “the largest personal data integration government project in the history of the Republic, with up to 300 million American citizen records needing to be combined from five federal agencies.” Dr. Stephen Parente – a University of Minnesota professor and health insurance and health information technology expert — warned part of the US House of Representatives’ House Committee on Homeland Security: “No one has said how the (ObamaCare) data hub will actually operate to ensure no privacy breaches as well as safeguard against identity fraud,” he said. “Greater transparency is needed, as well as a frank acknowledgement that the ACA’s posted deadlines should take second place to reasonable data concerns.” Of course, Dr. Parente’s warnings were not heeded. We know this because a North Carolina man, Justin Hadley, received his cancellation letter from Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina and was directed to Health.gov to sign up for his new insurance options. “After multiple attempts to access the problem-plagued website, Hadley finally made it past the registration page Thursday. That’s when he was greeted with a downloadable letter about eligibility — for two people in South Carolina.” One of these two people had simply gone onto the website in early October to evaluate his health care options; he registered but decided not to sign up for the government insurance because it was “grossly expensive and didn’t provide the level of care” he previously had. Even after contacting HealthCare.gov, his senators, and his representative, his personal information remained on the website. An HHS spokeswoman responded: “When consumers fill out their online … applications, they can trust that the information they’re providing is protected by stringent security standards and that the technology underlying the application process has been tested and is secure.” Why am I not surprised? This is outrageous, inexcusable incompetence or an out-and-out lie. Either way, it’s not encouraging.
