SNEAK PEEK: SHORTER OBAMACARE FORMS OUT TODAY (556 hits)
A senior administration official : "The President wants the Administration to be as flexible and nimble as possible in implementing the [Affordable Care Act] law. It is a complex undertaking, and it is particularly important to the success of the law that enrollment into the Markteplaces be as user-friendly as possible. We got a lot of helpful comments on the draft 21-page application, saying that it was too long and complex.The average private insurance form is about 17 pages long. But we want our enrollment to be easier than dealing with the health insurers -- so we worked to get the form down to 3 pages. Obviously, the drafting of the Marketplace application is just one small piece of ACA implementation. But we hope that people concerned with implementation will view this corrective action as a positive step and a demonstration of our interest in taking whatever actions we can to make the law work well for all.". The three forms, to be posted at 10 a.m. on HHS.gov: "Application for Health Coverage & Help Paying Costs (Short Form)" (5 pages) ... "Application for Health Coverage & Help Paying Costs" (12 pages) ... "Application for Health Coverage" (5 pages)
"On Tuesday morning the Administration will announce a spiffy, new ... application ... 'We did a lot of work testing words, to come up with simpler language,' an Administration official told me, 'and we did time tests. Our average was seven minutes to fill out the paper version and even less if you do it online.' This compares favorably with applications for private insurance plans, which average about 17 pages (and can go as high as 35). 'We're hoping to move as many people as possible to the e-mail application form,' a second Administration official told me. 'We received a lot of [negative] feedback from insurers and individuals like you when we published the first application forms, and we're trying to be responsive to those concerns.'"
