Congressman accuses HHS of blocking Obamacare probe

(Bloomberg) — The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services told contractors not to cooperate with Congress’s efforts to investigate work related to the Obamacare website, a top Republican lawmaker said.

The agency informed Creative Computing Solutions Inc. on Dec. 6 that it isn’t authorized to disclose security testing information and other details to third parties, according to a letter today from Representative Darrell Issa to Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

The department may have sent similar letters to other contractors working on the implementation of the Affordable Care Act of 2010, wrote Issa, a California Republican and chairman of the House oversight committee.

The department’s actions constitute “criminal obstruction of a congressional investigation,” he said in the letter.

Joanne Peters, a health agency spokeswoman, didn’t provide immediate comment on Issa’s accusations.

Creative Computing is a closely held technology company based in Rockville, Maryland. It is one of the contractors that has worked on the Obamacare website, which debuted Oct. 1 with flaws that made it unusable to many Americans attempting to shop for health insurance.

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