2013 Obama regulations
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How Obamacare Navigators Will Waste Your Time and Tax Money
The insurance exchanges mandated by the 2009 health care law will be so utterly baffling that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services now needs to hire of tens of thousands of "Obamacare navigators" - at a cost to taxpayers of $9 billion or more every year.
Anyone who uses the new exchanges will quickly find out why Obamacare navigators were deemed necessary.
The draft application form for an individual is already up to 15 pages, while the form for a family is at 21 pages. And the instruction book is 61 pages.
"It's a lot of information that consumers are going to have to provide, and that could deter people from signing up," Laura Adams, senior insurance analyst at InsuranceQuotes.com, told MarketWatch. "That could be an issue for some people who don't like paperwork. And who likes paperwork?"
The government estimates the form will take anywhere from 20 to 45 minutes to complete, but that doesn't count all the information and document-gathering an applicant will need to do before even walking in the door of an exchange.
"If you like IRS forms, you're going to love this one," Ken Hoagland, chairman of conservative advocacy group Restore America's Voice, told MarketWatch. "These are the kinds of things that are going to drive people crazy."
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The Real Cost of Obamacare
Like it or not, in less than a year - January 2014 - the core of U.S. President Barack Obama's healthcare reform goes into effect - and recent data show the cost of Obamacare will be quite high.
The statistics are startling, seeing as the intent of Obamacare was to reduce overall medical costs in the country - one big reason government spending is running wild - by improving access to treatment for Americans. An additional 30 million Americans are expected to be covered under Obamacare.
But new reports estimate the new healthcare system could cost about $1.3 trillion over the next 10 years.
That means the original outcome - which President Obama said would be to "cut the cost of a typical family's premium by up to $2,500 a year" - is far from reality.
Here's a breakdown of what Obamacare will really cost you - and your job could be included.
