Obamacare officials announced that they would not be requiring employers to cover their workers next year or states to verify residents' incomes before signing them up for insurance.
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Exchange websites need to be able to talk to several federal agencies—IRS to verify an applicant's income and employment status, the Department of Homeland Security to determine her citizenship, and the state government to see if she qualifies for Medicaid, to name a few—all in real time, so a person could fill out a form and purchase insurance in one sitting.
Each of those departments has its own computer system and its own means of tracking information. Creating a "data hub" to share them has been a challenge, as a recent Government Accountability Office report highlighted. It is increasingly clear that the kind of Amazon.com, one-stop shopping that was once described – and that Obama himself referenced in a speech on Monday -- will not be available in most parts of the country.
"It's the joyous, simultaneous, nonlinear equation from hell," said Kip Piper, a former top official at HHS and OMB who is now a consultant in close contact with IT vendors.
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A computer glitch could help smokers get affordable coverage through Obamacare next year despite a rule allowing insurance companies to charge them much more than non-smokers.
In yet another delay for the health care overhaul, the Obama administration has quietly notified insurers that the system glitch will limit penalties insurers are allowed to charge. A fix will take at least a year to put in place.
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Nearly 2 in 3 uninsured low-income people who would qualify for subsidized coverage under President Barack Obama’s health care law may be out of luck next year because their states have not expanded Medicaid.
That a majority of the neediest people who could be helped by the law may instead remain uninsured is a predicament unforeseen by Obama and congressional Democrats who designed a sweeping extension of the social safety net. The law’s historic promise of health insurance for nearly all U.S. residents would
not be fulfilled as envisioned.
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In Obama's defense, he and the Democrats are busy trying to legalize 10-15 million illeagal immigrants so they can be covered also, and save even more money. Hopefully, these folks will be able to bring half of Central America into the U.S. over the next few years.
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