Washington (CNN) - The Republican head of the House Intelligence Committee said Sunday that problems with the Obamacare website might leave its potential consumers at risk of identity theft and other cyber crimes. The website, which is supposed to service enrollees in President Barack Obama's signature health care program, came under fire in congressional hearings last week.
On CNN's "State of the Union," Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Michigan, told Candy Crowley that HealthCare.gov is vulnerable to cyberattacks and that the contractors charged with building the website's infrastructure may need to do a complete overhaul.
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"They way that the system is designed, it is not secure," Rogers said. "They may have to redesign the entire system."
The Michigan Republican cautioned that, despite the insistence of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius that the site does not store data from customers, there is active collection and storing of consumer information at the weakest points of the website's infrastructure.
"It was very clear to me in the hearing that they do not have an overarching, solid cybersecurity plan to prevent the loss of private information," Rogers said.
In a blog post published Saturday, Sebelius addressed concerns about the system's vulnerability to attacks, reiterating what numerous contractors told Congress during testimony last week: that HealthCare.gov "doesn't retain or store information." Calling the online marketplace a "model of efficiency and security," Sebelius said that the "hub is not a database" and thus will not leave users exposed to cyberthreats.