A CMS contractor missed scheduled deadlines for submitting security documents concerning the federal health insurance exchange data hub, according to a report from the HHS Office of Inspector General.
The data hub will allow the exchanges to determine eligibility for insurance coverage and subsidies by accessing information from various sources, primarily federal agencies, according to the report. Other hub functions include providing a central point for the Internal Revenue Service when it needs coverage information, providing data for use in consumer Web portals and providing data for the oversight of the exchanges.
CMS originally set deadlines for the contractor to submit the hub system security plan on May 6 and the information security risk assessment on July 1. However, the contractor didn't expect to provide those documents in their final form until July 15, according to the report. Because of the delay, the OIG couldn't perform a planned assessment of CMS hub security efforts for the report.
The report also notes that CMS is working with "very tight" deadlines to assess, test and implement security measures before the Oct. 1 open enrollment date for the exchanges.
The agency is confident the hub will be operationally secure by Oct. 1, CMS Administrator Marilyn Tavenner wrote in a July 31 letter to Kay Daly, the assistant inspector general, according to a report from The Washington Post.
Ms. Tavenner also told Congress earlier this month the exchanges will open on time, and live testing of the enrollment system involving all of the necessary agencies is 80 percent complete.
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