'Seventeen states have passed laws restricting navigators and others trained to help consumers learn about and enroll in the Affordable Care Act's health insurance marketplaces.'
Nice. Why would states restrict folks from providing consumers assistance? Well, part of it may be wanting to be sure that bad advice isn't given (by making sure that no advice is given at all). Part of it may be not being very interested in consumers having a successful experience in the marketplaces …
(h/t +Margie Kleerup)
17 States Hinder Consumers – The Commonwealth Fund
17 States Hinder Consumers from Getting Help in the Health Insurance Marketplaces
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And, who’s $ is behind all this?????
With concerns about the lack of background checks on the navigators, is this an effort to try to limit the data the navigators have access to?
Though there are plenty of other parallel services in these states which aren't blocked or require criminal background checks for their providers. For example, Texas (http://goo.gl/lxEkBU) hasn't been requiring criminal background checks and liability insurance for "the state eligibility-determination workers who help people sign up for Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, food stamps and cash assistance" — all of which provide access to sensitive information — but now that it's Obamacare in the picture, Texas is all of a sudden deeply, deeply concerned about security.
As they should be and should have been in the past, as well.
The cluster and privacy concerns the O-Care website has been having should be opening everyone's eyes.