Senators Launch Bipartisan Healthcare Cybersecurity Working Group

US Senators Mark Warner (D-VA), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), John Cornyn (R-TX), and Maggie Hassan (D-NH) launched a bipartisan Senate healthcare cybersecurity working group. The group will focus on proposing legislative solutions within the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee to strengthen healthcare cybersecurity.

“We are seeing a disturbing rise in cyberattacks on our health care system. These attacks not only put patients’ sensitive health data at risk but can delay life-saving care,” Cassidy stated. “Just like a strong military and police force defends us against physical attacks, we must ensure health institutions can safeguard against increasing cyber threats and protect Americans’ crucial health data.”

As previously reported, both Senators Warner and Cassidy have been vocal about the need to address systemic healthcare cybersecurity challenges. Warner released a policy options paper in November 2022 to bring attention to healthcare cybersecurity gaps. Cassidy recently issued a request for information (RFI) asking stakeholders for feedback on improving health data privacy and modernizing HIPAA.

The new working group builds upon this work, at a time when the healthcare industry is getting targeted by cyberattacks at alarming rates. HHS recently reported that 89 million records have been breached this year so far, more than doubling last year’s figures.

“As Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, I am acutely aware of the most serious threats facing our country, and I know that shoring up our cybersecurity is one of the best tools we have to protect ourselves and our sensitive materials,” Warner added.

“In no industry is this more obvious and important than health care, where such care is increasingly connected and even a brief period of interruption can have life and death consequences. I am proud to launch this bipartisan group to build on the policy options I have been exploring and better improve our cybersecurity through legislative fixes.”

Hassan and Cornyn similarly stressed the importance of addressing the ongoing threats to health data and patient safety, especially when it comes to under-resourced hospitals and rural healthcare facilities. The press release did not state when stakeholders can expect to see the first deliverables from the new working group.