(Image: CMS)
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) says it has had to shut down the HealthCare.gov exchange plan enrollment tool for agents and brokers, just a week before the open enrollment period for 2019 is set to start, because of a data breach.
HealthCare.gov managers noticed "anomalous activity" Oct. 13, began investigating it, and declared a breach Oct. 16, according to CMS officials.
Officials say they believe the HealthCare.gov Direct Enrollment pathway system for agents and brokers to view about 75,000 individuals' files.
"The agent and broker accounts that were associated with the anomalous activity were deactivated, and — out of an abundance of caution — the Direct Enrollment pathway for agents and brokers was disabled," CMS officials said.
