The Trump administration said Friday it’s reactivated an Obamacare signup tool for insurance agents and brokers after a cyber breach exposed 75,000 individuals’ private files.
The “direct pathway” tool was taken offline while the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services investigated the breach and bolstered its security.
CMS said it’s still trying to determine what nefarious actors saw, but can verify that no banking information, federal tax data or sensitive health information was exposed.
“Once the assessment is completed, affected individuals will be notified as quickly as possible through multiple channels,” the agency said.
CMS said affected persons will receive free credit-protection services, if needed.
The agency has said the breach was unacceptable, even if it only affected a small fraction of the millions of people who’ve used the federal Obamacare marketplace to seek coverage.
The breach did not affect the normal HealthCare.gov channel that many enrollees use to shop for plans.
Open enrollment for the 2019 plan year begins Nov. 1.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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