Wednesday, January 07, 2015

If you like it, you can('t) keep it

Healthcare economist Robert Book has a very personal tale of ObamaTax woe:

"I am self-employed, and I have several significant pre-existing conditions ... who was supposed to be able to get insurance under the new system."

Turns out - surprise! - that he was lied to. That is, he relied on the word of ObamaTax proponents, including that of the President himself, that he could simply go to the 404Care.gov site, punch a few buttons, and be enrolled.

I heartily recommend reading the whole thing, but the takeaway is breathtakingly simple, and alarming:

"A few days later I got a letter from “The Marketplace” ... congratulating me for selecting a plan, and reminding to to pay my premium as soon as I got a bill from the insurance company."

Problem is, he never received the bill, because his newly-chosen insurer never received notice that he had, in fact, signed up. In theory, HHS sends a notice (ANSI 834 form) to, say, Anthem that Bob Smith has chosen them as his carrier, and needs to add him to their records, send out a bill and an ID card, etc. What seems to be happening is that this last, crucial step is either delayed or, in many cases, not happening at all.

So you have any number of folks who think they've signed up for insurance who really haven't. And since this is the gummint, good luck holding those (ir)responsible to account.

Just another broken promise, apparently.
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