Watch Senator Rosen’s Remarks HERE.
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee advanced Senator Jacky Rosen’s (D-NV) bipartisan Healthcare Cybersecurity Act out of committee. The bill, which Senators Rosen and Bill Cassidy (R-LA) introduced last week, directs the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) to collaborate with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on improving cybersecurity in the Healthcare and Public Health Sector. The legislation also directs CISA and HHS to share threat information with Healthcare and Public Health Sector assets and provide cybersecurity training to relevant medical professionals.
Earlier this month, President Biden and the White House warned American companies, including healthcare entities, to take immediate action to harden their cyber defenses “based on evolving intelligence that the Russian Government is exploring options for potential cyberattacks.” According to a recent POLITICO analysis of HHS data released recently, nearly 50 million people in the U.S. had their sensitive health data breached in 2021, a threefold increase in just the last three years.
Senator Rosen has been a leader in calling for strengthening America’s cybersecurity in light of increased Russian cyber threats. Earlier this month, she led a bipartisan group of 22 senators in a letter to Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas requesting information and a briefing on what the Department of Homeland Security is doing to protect the United States from possible Russian cyberattacks. Senator Rosen also introduced a bipartisan bill this month to bolster cybersecurity at the Department of Veterans Affairs and protect veterans’ information.
Below is a transcript of Senator Rosen’s remarks about her bipartisan bill:
Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member Portman, for holding today’s markup, which includes my legislation, the Healthcare Cybersecurity Act–it’s bipartisan legislation I introduced with Senator Cassidy.
Hospitals and health centers are part of our critical infrastructure and increasingly are the targets of malicious cyberattacks, which can result in data breaches, and the cost of care gets driven up, and can have negative patient health outcomes.
Last week, President Biden specifically warned American companies, including those in the Healthcare and Public Health Sector, to take immediate action to harden their cyber defenses against potential Russian cyberattacks.
In light of these threats, we must take proactive steps to enhance the cybersecurity of our healthcare and public health entities.
To improve the cybersecurity of hospitals and health centers, the Healthcare Cybersecurity Act directs CISA and the Department of Health and Human Services to share threat information with the health sector and provide cybersecurity training to relevant healthcare professionals.
I look forward to seeing the legislation advance so we can ensure healthcare entities can protect themselves from rapidly evolving cyber threats.
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