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The Obama administration appears to be making broader changes to protect consumer information on the government's health insurance website, after objections from lawmakers and privacy advocates. The Associated Press reported last week that details such as consumers' income and tobacco use were going to private companies with a commercial interest in such data. (Gillum and Alonso-Zaldivar, 1/24)

The federal agency responsible for developing HealthCare.gov did not properly vet the contractors it hired to build the Web site and failed in many other aspects of planning it, according to a government review. In a report Thursday, the Department of Health and Human Services’ inspector general said that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services “did not perform thorough reviews of contractor past performance when awarding two key contracts,” among other issues. (Hicks, 1/23)

A top House Republican is demanding the IRS provide details on its relationship to CGI Federal, a contractor that was terminated by HHS in part for its role in the botched rollout of HealthCare.gov. The ties seem to predate the problems with the website. Still, six months after the company’s firing last January, the IRS renewed a contract with CGI for more than $4.5 million, according to Rep. Peter Roskam (R-Ill.), who chairs the House Ways and Means Oversight Subcommittee. (Dixon, 1/23)