Comment: Do you like doing your taxes? Well, at least it’s not as bad as applying for health insurance under Obamacare. Or having your most personal life and health information opened up to unknown, unaccountable government bureaucrats.
“According to the Associated Press, the government’s draft application for applicants who want government help in paying for and obtaining insurance coverage is 15 pages long, and will be looked at by at least three federal agencies, including the IRS.”
“Applying online won’t be much easier. It involves 21 steps, some with additional questions, and that’s even before you pick a specific health plan.”
[...]
“The government will actually have to check your background by instantly retrieving your birth records from Social Security, fetching income data from the IRS, and verifying your immigration status with Homeland Security.”
Getting Obamacare Coverage Could Be More Painful Than Doing Your Taxes
March 13, 2013
Keith Wagstaff, The Week
http://theweek.com/article/index/241271/getting-obamacare-coverage-could-be-more-painful-than-doing-your-taxes
Comment: The application form essentially asks employees to acts as unpaid informants on their employers, by asking for detailed information on their employer’s health insurance plan, as well their own personal opinions of their employer’s plan. Furthermore, the application coerces such spying by requiring the applicant to affirm “…I know that there may be a penalty if I’m not truthful.” Rep. Fred Upton, Chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, along with others on the committee, sent a letter to HHS Secretary Sibelius to express their concern. The members note in their press release:
“contrary to President Obama’s repeated promises, some Americans will not be able to keep their current health care plan. ”
“These documents are troubling for several reasons. First the applications request information not easily available to most Americans, including information on their employers’ health plans that most employees would have difficulty obtaining. For example, it is unlikely most Americans would be able to determine which of their employer health plans meet the ‘minimal value standard’ as defined by PPACA.”
“Furthermore, the HHS application asks the applicants to check a box if their job ‘will no longer offer health coverage next year.’ As you are aware, during the debate over PPACA supporters of the law routinely promised Americans that if they liked their current coverage, they would be able to keep it. By asking applicants to state whether their employers will no longer offer health coverage, HHS seems to acknowledge that the PPACA will incentivize employers to discontinue providing health care plans.”