Rick Moran
Remember when President Obama tried to compare healthcare.gov to a travel website like Orbitz? Well, on Orbitz, if you find a better deal after you've purchased a package, you can easily cancel the package you originally purchased, pay a small cancellation fee, and then buy the better deal.
What happens if you purchase a plan through Obamacare and then find a better deal? Be prepared for something akin to "Attack of the Living Dead" because Mr. Citizen, you buy it - you keep it.
Weekly Standard:
We are hearing about a new problem that involves the Affordable Care Act," said the anchor. "People who signed up for coverage are finding it impossible to cancel their plans. Channel 9's Lori Brown spoke with an Orlando man who has been trying unsuccessfully to cancel for more than six weeks now."
"Andrew Robinson was looking forward to getting health insurance through the Affordable Care Act. He has a small publishing business and works part time, so he hasn't had coverage. In early January he signed up for a plan that cost nearly $300 a month. About a half hour later he and his wife realized they could barely afford that. They quickly found a less expensive plan through Humana for $116 a month," says the reporter.
"I immediately called back the Florida Blue and asked them to cancel the policy I just set up," says Robinson.
"But he quickly learned canceling Obamacare is no easy task. ... More than six weeks later after spending 50 to 60 hours on the phone his policy is still not canceled and he is still waiting for the payment Florida Blue withdrew from his account to be refunded."
The wheels of government turn slowly - when they turn at all. It's difficult to understand why this function wasn't included in the website design. Obviously, the companies can't refund the money until they are informed by CMS of the cancellation.
This Missouri woman's tale of woe explains a lot. She tried for 6 weeks to cancel her Obamacare plan and got a run around that you won't believe:
Hill first tried the HealthCare.gov help line, and "literally was on hold for several hours a day," she said. After multiple attempts, without much luck, she tried the online chat. She was redirected back to the help line. The "script" that operators were reading from did not seem to address how someone could actually cancel a plan.
Hill continued to call the help line around the holidays, and eventually was given the impression that, at last, the plan was terminated.
But then, a $950 premium was withdrawn from her account -- which she knew meant she was still enrolled.
Hill went on a blitz, breaking through to another layer at the HealthCare.gov help line. But the answer she was given was that cancellations are handled by a "special department," the number of which could not be given out.
"He said, 'I'm not allowed to tell you that,'" Hill told FoxNews.com. "You've got to be kidding me."
She kept pressing, to no avail. Then she got angry.
Hill started shooting emails all over Missouri, to the governor, the state's two senators in Congress, the Missouri insurance department and others.
Then, as a last-ditch play, she got in her car and drove to Kansas City, hoping Blue Cross Blue Shield would know the "backdoor" to end the coverage.
Fortunately for her, she said the insurance company was helpful, and worked through the federal help line with her until finally reaching someone who, despite not being pleasant about it, said the plan would be discontinued. She later confirmed it was.
Gee - you'd think they were having trouble signing people up or something.
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2014/03/trapped_by_obamacare.html
