Leaders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee have sent a
The letter comes after a recent lawsuit was filed over the IRS's alleged seizure of over 10 million American patients’ medical information in the course of executing a warrant related to a former employee’s financial records. As the IRS will be tasked with implementing much of President Obama’s signature health care reform law, committee leaders said they are concerned about what restrictions and safeguards are in place to ensure that Americans’ medical information remains protected.
The letter to Werfel was signed by House Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee chairman Tim Murphy, R-Pa., Oversight and Investigations and Health Subcommittees vice chairman Michael C. Burgess, M.D., R-Texas, committee chairman emeritus Joe Barton, R-Texas, and committee vice chairman Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn. They wrote, “(T)he Committee on Energy and Commerce is investigating allegations that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), in the course of executing a search warrant at a California health care provider’s corporate headquarters in March 2011, improperly seized the personal medical records of millions of American citizens in possible violation of the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution.”
The letter continued, “According to a March 14, 2013, report by
The lawsuit cites a
The committee leaders asked Werfel to respond to the letter by Tuesday, June 25.