During remarks on the House floor, Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-CA) asked Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to launch an investigation into
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00:00Mr. Speaker, an investigation by CalMatters has revealed something extremely disturbing
00:08when it comes to the personal health information of Californians.
00:14It's been revealed that Covered California, which is the state's Obamacare exchange,
00:21its website had a tracker that was collecting the personal health information of Californians
00:28and then transmitting that information for marketing purposes.
00:34Specifically, the CalMatters investigation discovered that trackers on the website of Covered California
00:41collected and sent personal information to LinkedIn through one of the company's trackers called an insight tag.
00:49This information included very personal health information, whether the individual was blind, disabled, pregnant,
00:56whether they used prescription drugs, their gender identity, whether they're a victim of domestic abuse,
01:03how often they sought care at in- or outpatient facilities.
01:07A spokesperson for Covered California even admitted they installed these trackers as part of a marketing campaign.
01:14And the trackers, by the way, were not removed until this CalMatters report was public.
01:20This illegal action was undertaken despite the fact that LinkedIn has publicly advised on their website
01:28that the insight tags, quote, should not be installed on web pages that collect or contain sensitive data
01:35and that pages offering specific health-related or financial services or products to consumers
01:41that should not be there either.
01:43But despite these warnings, Covered California proceeded, and I believe this raises a serious issue under HIPAA,
01:53a law designed to protect the privacy of individuals' personal health information.
02:01So I have written to Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy, to ask for an investigation into what happened in California,
02:11into how this was allowed to happen, and to any legal violations that may have occurred.
02:16Specifically, I'm asking Secretary Kennedy to investigate whether Covered California violated HIPAA or any other laws.
02:24Who authorized the use of the trackers?
02:26What controls exist to protect privacy in California's Affordable Care Act exchange?
02:32How did Covered California evade those controls?
02:35How many people have been impacted?
02:37Have they been notified?
02:38Has there been any restitution?
02:40Why did Covered California use the trackers contrary to LinkedIn's explicit guidance?
02:46And I am asking how this sort of violation can be prevented in the future.
02:53This is truly unacceptable, and I look forward to getting some answers from this investigation.
03:00Because of this, we have to take questions from my secretary.