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

http://www.insidearm.com/news/00006940-report-healthcare-reform-application-for-/

A draft version of the application that the uninsured must fill out to receive assistance for coverage under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is a whopping 15 pages, the Associated Press reports.

The application has dozens of questions, not only about income, but also about age, race, employers, family members, and more. According to the AP, the online version has 21 steps.

Compared with the average hospital charity care application (normally two to five pages), the federal form is on the scale of a tax form from the Internal Revenue Service, which, according to the AP, will be one of three agencies reviewing the healthcare forms.

“That’s just the first part of the process, which lets you know if you qualify for financial help,” the AP writes. “You’d still have to pick a health plan.”