Outcry leads to easier forms to apply for health care

Washington • After a storm of complaints, the Obama administration on Tuesday unveiled simplified forms to apply for insurance under the president's new health care law. You won't have to lay bare your medical history but you will have to detail your finances.

An earlier version of the forms had provoked widespread griping that they were as bad as tax forms and might overwhelm uninsured people, causing them to give up in frustration.

The biggest change is a five-page short form that single people can fill out. That form includes a cover page with instructions and another page if you want to designate someone to help you through the process.

But the abridged application form for families starts at 12 pages, and grows as you add children. Most people are expected to take another option, applying online.

The ease or difficulty of applying for benefits takes on added importance because Americans remain confused about what the health care law will mean for them. A Kaiser Family Foundation poll released Tuesday found that 4 in 10 are unaware it's the law of the land. Some think it's been repealed by Congress. In fact, it's still on track.

At his news conference Tuesday, President Barack Obama hailed the simplified forms as an example of how his team listened to criticism from consumer groups and made a fix. The law's full benefits will be available to all next year, he emphasized, even if Republicans in Congress still insist on repeal and many GOP governors won't help put it into place.

When the first draft of the application turned out to be a clunker, "immediately, everybody said, 'Well, this is too long, Let's streamline this thing,' " Obama recounted.

The flap over the application forms was a "first test" of the administration's ability to confront problems as they emerge, said Sam Karp, vice president of programs at the California HealthCare Foundation. "Being nimble enough to identify, then fix, problems will be critical to successfully enroll millions of Americans who will become newly eligible for coverage."

The applications will start becoming familiar to consumers less than six months from now, on Oct. 1, when new insurance markets open for enrollment in every state. They are not for people already signed up in their employer's plan, only the uninsured.

Filling out the application is 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. Consumers who aren't applying for financial help still have to fill out a five-page form.

Once you're finished with the money part, actually picking a health plan will require additional steps, plus a basic understanding of insurance jargon.

Under the law, middle-class people who don't get coverage through their jobs will be able to purchase private insurance. Most will be able to get tax credits to make their premiums more affordable. The lowest-income uninsured people will be steered to government programs such as Medicaid.

Benefits begin Jan. 1, and nearly 30 million uninsured Americans are eventually expected to get coverage.

Although the new forms were seen as an improvement, consumers must still provide a snapshot of their finances to see if they qualify for help. That potentially includes multiple sources of income, from alimony, tips and regular paychecks to unemployment, pensions and Social Security. Individuals will have to gather tax returns, pay stubs and other financial records before filling out the application.

Although the new forms are shorter, the administration wasn't able to get rid of all the complexity. One question asks family applicants with at least one member covered through a job for "the lowest-cost plan that meets the minimum value standard offered only to the employee." Huh?

Administration officials expect most people to apply online. Identification, citizenship and immigration status, as well as income details, are supposed to be verified in close to real time through a federal "data hub" pinging Social Security, the Homeland Security department and the Internal Revenue Service.

Under Obama's overhaul, insurers will no longer be able to turn away the sick or charge them more. The pitfalls of giving the wrong answer to a health care question will be gone, but consumers who underestimate their incomes could be in for an unwelcome surprise later on in the form of smaller tax refunds. —

Confusion still reigns

A Kaiser Family Foundation poll released Tuesday found that 4 in 10 are unaware the Affordable Care Act is the law of the land. Some think it's been repealed by Congress. In fact, it's still on track.