No help forthcoming

Today I will mail 20+ sheets of paper, some with words printed in languages other than English, some which are partly filled out forms and a good bit of which I have already mailed.

This round is going to the Obamacare headquarters which believes I have not filed the appropriate paperwork telling the government what the government already knows because I filed the appropriate paperwork.

Once again some of these forms request information that I:

• Do not know where to get

• Do not understand

• Do not know why the government must have this information from me because it already has this information from me.

Confused? Me too.

Among the requested paperwork being sent this time is an appeal form. Filled this out as best I can.

Every time I have to send in paperwork, I make copies of everything they sent. I make copies of everything I previously sent and everything they previously sent. Times like this make me glad to be a tree farmer.

Yet to get a straight answer.

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One of the things repeated in several places in these letters from various federal agencies is a toll-free number to call to get help.

I have called. I have stayed on hold until the phone disconnected. I have yet to speak with a live person.

Call the state help line? Same thing.

•••

I periodically get information from Blue Cross & Blue Shield, the insurance company. Some of it is as comprehensible as the information from Obamacare & the IRS. Some of it is in plain, simple English which I can understand.

BCBS also has a toll free number, but the wait time is interminable. I send them a letter. They do what's needed and it is settled.

•••

In case you don't wonder, I sometimes work as an investigative reporter. I write high finance articles and I write about tax laws around the nation. I am skilled at wading through bureaucratic bullshit on paper. And yet, this stuff mystifies me.

•••

I do not intend to wait on hold until a live person comes on the line. Letters from the IRS and Obamacare all request a phone number so someone can call me. I have yet to receive a call.

I may start billing these agencies for my time.

•••

One thing I have noticed is they like paper. The more the better. At the rate things are going, I will be mailing entire reams of paper this time next year. Someone in Washington is going to die of a joyous heart attack from this.

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When Obamacare was announced, the then Liar-in-Chief said this would reduce federal spending. Anyone but me remember that? Depending on whom you talk to, the government is spending less on healthcare for citizens, but how, where and why is never explained. The numbers are just pulled out the air apparently.