tci Part B Insider - 2006 Issue 12

Medicare Uses 'Swiss Cheese' To Protect Patients' Information

Medicare is collecting information on millions of Americans and failing to keep it secure, the Government Accountability Office says in a forthcoming report. Even as the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services holds you to high standards of security under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, the GAO claims the agency itself is leaving beneficiary info open to thieves and pranksters, according to USA Today. The GAO found "significant weaknesses in information security controls," which increase the risk that someone could obtain, modify or destroy Medicare patients' information. The Department of Health & Human Services spent $5...

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