Feds Shorten Health Exchange Application to 12 Pages

When health insurance exchanges open Oct. 1, potential beneficiaries will have to fill out a 12-page form to apply, President Barack Obama revealed yesterday.

A shorter3-page form will be required for individuals without families or who don’t have the option of employer coverage.

“So we cut what was a 21-page form now down to a form that’s about three pages for an individual, a little more than that for a family, well below the industry average,” the president said in a news conference yesterday.

In March the Associated Press reported the original draft of the form was 15 pages (not 21, as stated by the president), which in turn provoked complaints by consumer groups that it was too complicated and too long for consumers.

According to the president, his staff had had the same reaction. “Immediately everybody sat around the table and said: ‘Well, this is too long, especially, you know, in this age of the Internet. People aren’t going to have the patience to sit there for hours on end. Let’s streamline this thing,” he told reporters.

Previously:

REPORT: Healthcare Reform Application for Uninsured Patients Weighs in at 15 Pages