I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3299 

To amend section 340A of the Public Health Service Act to protect the 

privacy of personally identifiable information in relation to enrollment 

activities of health insurance exchanges, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 16, 2013 

Mr. ROSS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways 

and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 

in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend section 340A of the Public Health Service Act 

to protect the privacy of personally identifiable information in relation to enrollment activities of health insurance exchanges, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Security Before Access 

5 Act of 2013’’. 


jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 3299 IH

1 SEC. 2. PROTECTING THE PRIVACY OF PERSONALLY IDEN2 TIFIABLE INFORMATION IN ENROLLMENT 

3 ACTIVITIES OF HEALTH INSURANCE EX4 CHANGES. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 340A(c) of the Public 

6 Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 256a(c)) is amended by 

7 adding at the end the following new paragraph: 

8 ‘‘(3) ENSURING PRIVACY OF PERSONALLY

9 IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION; LIABILITY; PEN10 ALTIES; CONSUMER OPT OUT.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

12 require each recipient of a grant under this sec13 tion to implement procedures specified by the 

14 Secretary consistent with this paragraph in 

15 order protect the privacy of personally identifi16 able information. 

17 ‘‘(B) REQUIRED PROCEDURES.—The pro18 cedures specified by the Secretary under sub19 paragraph (A) shall include at least the fol20 lowing: 

21 ‘‘(i) PROHIBITION OF ACCESS WITH22 OUT EXPLICIT CONSENT.—No certified ap23 plication counselor, health insurance navi24 gator, or non-navigator assistance per25 sonnel shall have access to personally iden26 tifiable information relating to an indiVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:36 Oct 17, 2013 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3299.IH H3299

jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 3299 IH

1 vidual without the express, witnessed, writ2 ten consent of that individual. 

3 ‘‘(ii) REQUIRING LICENSURE, BACK4 GROUND CHECKS.—No such individual 

5 shall have access to personally identifiable 

6 information unless the individual— 

7 ‘‘(I) has undergone, within 60 

8 days before commencing enrollment 

9 assistance for any consumer seeking 

10 coverage through health insurance ex11 changes, both a criminal background 

12 and fingerprint check and has a clean 

13 record free of criminal infractions; 

14 and 

15 ‘‘(II) meets educational and li16 censure requirements that are iden17 tical or comparable to those currently 

18 applicable to health insurance agents 

19 and brokers within the State they 

20 seek to assist consumers with health 

21 insurance enrollment. 

22 ‘‘(iii) REQUIREMENT FOR PRIOR CER23 TIFICATION OF SAFEGUARDS.—The recipi24 ent of the grant may not collect personally 

25 identifiable information for any reason 


jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 3299 IH

1 until the Comptroller General of the 

2 United States, in agreement with the In3 spector General of the Department of 

4 Health and Human Services, certifies to 

5 Congress that such Department, along 

6 with any other relevant Federal agencies 

7 involved with health insurance assistance 

8 or enrollment, or collection or verification 

9 of personally identifiable information, have 

10 implemented all appropriate and necessary 

11 actions to safeguard both the such infor12 mation and financial information of indi13 viduals seeking enrollment in a health plan 

14 through an Exchange and to protect such 

15 individuals from fraud and abuse. 

16 ‘‘(C) LIABILITY.—Not later than 90 days 

17 after the date of the enactment of this para18 graph, the Secretary— 

19 ‘‘(i) shall issue guidance concerning 

20 how liability and penalties will be applied 

21 in instances of failure to comply with re22 quirements of this paragraph, including 

23 where consumer outreach and enrollment 

24 assistance causes harm to an individual as 

25 a result of misuse or negligence in protecVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:53 Oct 17, 2013 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3299.IH H3299

jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 3299 IH

1 tion and privacy of personally identifiable 

2 information; 

3 ‘‘(ii) shall determine whether such li4 ability lies with the person (such as a navi5 gator, certified application counselor, or 

6 non-navigator assistance personnel) having 

7 direct contact with the prospective enrollee 

8 in enrollment assistance-related actions or 

9 whether liability lies with the entity that 

10 received Federal or Exchange-generated 

11 funds to carry out consumer outreach ac12 tivities; and 

13 ‘‘(iii) shall determine whether the en14 tities identified under clause (ii) are re15 quired to obtain professional liability cov16 erage. 

17 ‘‘(D) PENALTIES.— 

18 ‘‘(i) CRIMINAL PENALTIES.— 

19 ‘‘(I) Any individual or entity who, 

20 under this section, has possession of, 

21 or access to, personally identifiable in22 formation the disclosure of which is 

23 prohibited by this section (or section 

24 552a of title 5, United States Code) 

25 or by rules or regulations established 


jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 3299 IH

1 thereunder, and who knowing that 

2 disclosure of the specific material is so 

3 prohibited, willfully discloses the ma4 terial in any manner to any person or 

5 entity not entitled to receive it, shall 

6 be guilty of a misdemeanor and fined 

7 not more than $5,000. 

8 ‘‘(II) A person who commits the 

9 offense described under subclause (I) 

10 with the intent to sell, transfer, or use 

11 personally identifiable information for 

12 commercial advantage, personal gain, 

13 or malicious harm shall be fined not 

14 more than $250,000, imprisoned for 

15 not more than 10 years, or both. 

16 ‘‘(III) Any person who knowingly 

17 and willfully requests or obtains any 

18 personally identifiable information 

19 protected under this section con20 cerning an individual under false pre21 tenses shall be guilty of a felony and 

22 fined not more than $100,000, impris23 oned for not more than 5 years, or 

24 both. 


jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 3299 IH

1 ‘‘(ii) POTENTIAL EXPOSURE TO TAX

2 PENALTY.—Any navigator, certified appli3 cation counselor, or non-navigator assist4 ance personnel who engages in health plan 

5 enrollment consumer assistance activities 

6 under this section and who is exposed to 

7 consumer tax return information is poten8 tially subject to criminal liability under 

9 section 7213(a) of the Internal Revenue 

10 Code of 1986 for any instances of unau11 thorized disclosure of such information. 

12 ‘‘(iii) DISQUALIFICATION FROM FUR13 THER ASSISTANCE.—If the Secretary de14 termines that any individual, including any 

15 navigator, certified application counselor, 

16 or non-navigator assistance personnel, has 

17 a criminal background or is otherwise in 

18 violation of this paragraph with respect to 

19 the requirements relating to disclosure and 

20 use of personally identifiable information, 

21 the Secretary shall permanently disqualify 

22 the individual from any further involve23 ment in consumer assistance activities re24 quired under this section or the Patient 

25 Protection and Affordable Care Act and 


jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 3299 IH

1 may disqualify and rescind the Federal 

2 and Exchange-generated funds from the 

3 entity which employs or contracts with 

4 such an individual. 

5 ‘‘(E) CONSUMER OPT OUT FOR LACK OF

6 PRIVACY PROTECTION.—Beginning on the date 

7 of health insurance exchange operations for 

8 both individuals and businesses, no individual 

9 consumer shall be made responsible for failure 

10 to meet a requirement under the Patient Pro11 tection and Affordable Care Act (including any 

12 amendments made by this Act) for obtaining 

13 qualified health insurance coverage through an 

14 Exchange unless the Secretary has dem15 onstrated with reasonable certainty that effec16 tive and comprehensive protection of personally 

17 identifiable information, with respect to any 

18 health insurance enrollment activity electronic 

19 or otherwise, are in place prior to any consumer 

20 disclosure or transmission of personally identifi21 able information for health insurance enroll22 ment purposes. 

23 ‘‘(F) PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFOR24 MATION DEFINED.—In this paragraph, the term 

25 ‘personally identifiable information’ includes SoVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:36 Oct 17, 2013 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3299.IH H3299

jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
9 

•HR 3299 IH

1 cial Security numbers, bank account informa2 tion, insurance records, health records, personal 

3 income data, and any other information deemed 

4 personally identifiable and sensitive in nature 

5 by the Federal Trade Commission, the Depart6 ment of Justice, the Social Security Adminis7 tration, the Consumer Financial Protection Bu8 reau, the President’s Task Force on Identity 

9 Theft, and any other relevant Federal agency, 

10 which is disclosed or obtained in connection 

11 with any health insurance enrollment activity 

12 conducted under this section.’’. 

13 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

14 subsection (a) shall take effect on the date of the enact15 ment of this Act and shall apply to grants made before, 

16 on, or after the date of the enactment of this Act. The 

17 Secretary of Health and Human Services shall provide for 

18 the prompt modification of such grants made before the 

19 date of the enactment of this Act in order to comply with 

20 the requirement imposed by such amendment. 

Æ 


jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS