The Health and Human Services Department released drafts of Obamacare showing that applying for health care "could be as daunting as your taxes," according to the Associated Press:
The government's draft application runs 15 pages for a three-person family. An outline of the online version has 21 steps, some with additional questions.
At least three major federal agencies, including the IRS, will scrutinize your application. Checking your identity, income and citizenship is supposed to happen in real time, if you apply online.
That's just the first part of the process, which lets you know if you qualify for financial help. The government asks to see what you're making because Obama's Affordable Care Act is means-tested, with lower-income people getting the most generous help to pay premiums.
The enrollment period begins Oct. 1 and more than 4.3 million applications for financial assistance are expected. Additionally, proper completion of the application requires "a basic understanding of insurance jargon." It is estimated that paper applications will take about 45 minutes to complete and the online version will take 30 minutes on average.
