Continuing adventures of ObamaCare – Covered California is now a voter registration project

Twelve weeks ago I wrote about my test subjects in Covered California – the Golden State’s expedition into running its own version of ObamaCare. Since that time when the absolute bureaucratic debacle demonstrating the complete unpreparedness of the organizations involved was first exposed, things have developed.

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My second subjects Ricky and Carolyn abandoned their efforts after being offered a more expensive private sector option. It seems the delay of mandates meant that the plan they thought they could no longer stay in will still be around, at least for a while and they preferred it. Meanwhile my first subjects Charles and Lorraine have soldiered on. They have had the wherewithal to get set up and make the required payments despite all the obstacles, which were considerable. Online bill pay was initially denied to them because they were not registered and registration couldn’t be completed without making a payment. This was a classical government snafu requiring literally hours of waiting on hold to fix. I suspect this has caused many people to stop in their tracks, meaning the claims of how many people have registered will not be backed up by how many people have actually started paying. And having made their first payment, my subjects then found the second payment didn’t clear the Health Net system for over a month, meaning making the third payment on time was not possible (since the second one was still pending, although the money had been taken four weeks earlier). Confused – this is what many enrollees are going through if they are being diligent. I suspect many are not, but those figures are not being released. Charles and Lorraine have yet to receive a bill in the mail despite the request being clearly indicated in the system. But other stuff does come in the mail including (trumpets sounding) a voter registration form. It seems almost incredulous to hear our favorite talk show personalities calling Covered California a voter registration project but Lorraine has showed me it in writing. The opening wording to the letter she received was jaw dropping: “Dear Lorriane: Thank you for using Covered California for your health insurance needs. Covered California is a voter registration agency. This notice provides you the opportunity to register to vote“. There is then a lot of blurb about how to do this and an enclosed form. The letter concludes “The next statewide primary election is Tuesday June 3rd. Thank you, (signed) Covered California Voter Registration Coordinator. (There is no actual signature) You most certainly will have to ‘pass the bill to find out what’s in it’ as Ms. Pelosi accidentally revealed. Covered California is covering more than your healthcare, it is now leaning on you to register to vote and in at least one case it is choosing the Democratic Party for you. The Daily Caller reports that a couple in La Mesa, California (near San Diego) received their friendly voter registration solicitation with a form enclosed already marked up for the individual or couple to register as a Democrat. It seems someone at Covered California Central has decided this is the correct answer to the question “do you want to choose a political party preference?” The La Mesa couple was told by Covered California to contact the Secretary of State’s office since they provide the forms, no one from that office could be contacted and the San Diego County Registrar of Voters told the couple to contact Covered California. Clearly, like much of the Obama White House shenanigans, nobody plans on being held accountable. And beyond choosing your party for you the folks at Covered California HQ have decided that gay couples can shop together for health insurance but an unmarried heterosexual couple cannot, since they have the option to marry.

Is Covered California guilty of discrimination against unmarried heterosexual domestic couples?

California allows domestic couples of any gender to file their state taxes jointly. My third subjects – Andrew & Nina – do just that. Unmarried they file Federal taxes separately but file their State taxes as a domestic couple consistent with State law. The rules though are different for the lesbian couple who live in the apartment downstairs in a moderately attractive part of Long Beach. Because heterosexual domestic couples in the State cannot register their relationship they cannot shop jointly through Covered California “because they have the option to marry”, said Leigh Kretzschmar, a San Diego attorney specializing in domestic partnerships who was speaking to The Voice of San Diego. Which now leads us to a whole new question? Is Covered California guilty of discrimination against unmarried heterosexual domestic couples? Their civil rights, one can claim are being violated, since they are being denied by the State the same opportunities through government as homosexual couples. It just goes to show that the more the government gets involved in something the more messed up it becomes.