If you’re among your company’s full-time, benefits-eligible employees, you know the confusion caused by the mere number of forms you have to fill out to sign up for company-sponsored health insurance. But, according to a Forbes article, “To Sign Up For Obamacare, Start Filling Out The Forms Now (And Hire A Good Accountant),” you ain’t seen nothing yet!
A draft copy of the application form revealed 60 pages to fill out (in triplicate?). The standard information—name, address, social security number, date of birth, etc., is required of course. But there is a lot more paperwork to fill out before you can access the health care that was promised to be comprehensive and cost less.
The wrinkle in Obamacare is the subsidy eligibility. A lot of the questions have to do with eligibility. Subsidies pay for all or part of the insurance coverage. While the burden is great on those applying for Obamacare, the fact that the Federal Government is attempting to qualify applicants is refreshing, if not admirable.
Oh, did we forget to mention, the condensed application is a mere 21 pages.
The first question is, are you eligible for Medicaid? It makes sense to separate those eligible for an established Federal insurance plan.
Another few pages try to determine whether you have sufficient income to pay for other private healthcare or are already eligible under your employer’s plan. Employers are going to have their own obstacle course to traverse to comply with the extensive and convoluted requirements of Obamacare. The regulations make employer plan designs and premium costs fit strict guidelines. If employees qualify for these plans, they should take advantage of them. Insurance brokers and sales agents will need to be experts in the provision and eligibility criteria to help customers wade through the regulations and meet requirements to avoid penalties.
There are lots of questions about personal information and your family situation, income, work hours and finances. Sounds like a lot of invasive questions that were never required previously to sign up for a company-sponsored plan. But hey, this is the Federal Government. They need a lot more information, and if you want to play in their sandbox, you’ve got to comply with their rules.
The application form asks questions in a way that helps uncover mistakes. Not unlike pre-employment assessments that ask the same questions in different ways so an applicant can’t “outsmart” the test, the application asks enough questions to be sure an applicant isn’t trying to stack the deck in his/her favor. Family members may be asked to supply proof of income, and the information will be checked by other federal agencies, like the IRS. Sign on the dotted line, but be sure to read the disclaimers and penalties for perjury. They aren’t kidding.
Plan on spending an hour or so just filling out the forms, or hire a tax advisor or consultant to wade through the paperwork. Some people may just be put off and opt out altogether. The article compares the Obamacare application to filing another tax return. But don’t look for TurboTax to make it easy. This process comes from the same people that brought you the Federal Income Tax system, so get a cup of coffee, put your feet up and settle in for awhile.
Photo Source: Morguefile.com
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