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Video: U.S. Rep. Ron Barber Works with Republican Colleague to Protect Health Care Data(Targeted News Service Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) WASHINGTON, Jan. 10 -- Rep. Ron Barber, D-Ariz. (2nd CD), issued the following news release: U.S. Rep. Ron Barber today worked with a Republican colleague to introduce legislation that would require the federal government to develop and put in place cybersecurity safeguards to protect individuals' personal health care information. Barber today introduced the Cyber Awareness and Recovery Enhancement (CARE) Act. The bill is cosponsored by U.S. Rep. Steve Daines, a Montana Republican. "The CARE Act will require the Department of Homeland Security to develop the highest cybersecurity standards for healthcare.gov. I thank my colleague, Congressman Daines, for working with me to develop these critical protections," Barber said today. "This legislation is one more step I am taking to make health care reform work for Arizonans and for all Americans." In remarks today on the floor of the House, Barber urged his colleagues to support the CARE Act. Video of those remarks can be seen here.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nun1z4Sea8o "Since the launch of healthcare.gov, millions of Americans' personal information has been placed at risk by using the health exchange website. Greater accountability and stronger efforts to protect Americans' personal information is needed, which is why I'm proud to join Representative Barber's efforts to bring much-needed oversight to the security of healthcare.gov." Rep. Daines continued, "The bipartisan CARE Act will ensure that strong security measures are established by the Department of Homeland Security to protect Americans' personal information from the security gaps in the health exchange website." The CARE Act would require the Department of Homeland Security to take the lead in developing cybersecurity standards for the healthcare.gov website. These standards must be risk-based and performance-based. The Department of Homeland Security will work with the Department of Health and Human Services in developing these standards. HHS then is required to implement those standards within 90 days. The legislation also requires HHS to report to Congress annually on the number and nature of cyber incidents on the healthcare.gov website. Barber was not in Congress in March 2010 and did not vote for the Affordable Care Act. Since he took office in June 2012, he has remained opposed to full repeal of the law to keep its many benefits, such as closing the doughnut hole for seniors, allowing students to stay on their parents' health insurance until age 26, prohibiting gender discrimination in health insurance policies and preventing people with pre-existing conditions from being denied health care. Barber has supported common-sense actions to fix parts of the law that don't work for Southern Arizona small businesses, middle-class families and seniors. "The Affordable Care Act allows millions of people who have never had insurance to get it for the first time," Barber said. "It is important that every American have access to affordable health care - and while there are problems with the bill, there are many more benefits and I'm working to fix the problems." Last year, Barber supported a one-year delay to the employer and individual penalties in the Affordable Care Act to give businesses and individuals the time they need to make the law work for their businesses and families. TNS 30TacordaCheng-140111-4597851 30TacordaCheng (c) 2014 Targeted News Service |