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  • Florida Woman Stuck in ‘Bureaucratic Nightmare’ of Obamacare

    03.19.2014 | News | |

    A Florida woman , Melissa Battles, a single unemployed mother, calls her experience with Obamacare a nightmare.

    Battles needed healthcare for her and her sons. And taking President Obama’s word that signing up for Obamacare would be as easy as “buying a TV on Amazon,” she turned to healthcare.gov.

    “When I tried to enroll my entire family- I enrolled online- it is very convoluted and it takes a very long time to enroll…” Battles told WOFL-FL.

    Battles’ son is Autistic. And when she attempted to enroll him into HealthyKids, she says got buried in bureaucratic red tape.

    Shortly after she finally enrolled, Battles says she found a full time job that offered her healthcare.

    After contacting her insurer, Florida Health Care Plans, to cancel her insurance policy, Florida Health told Battles she could not, in fact, cancel it and instead directed her to do so through the marketplace. “I was blown away that they had not thought forward enough to realize that people were going to disenroll. This is going to be a common practice,” Battles said.

    Battles said her first call to the marketplace helpline was met with a whopping 49 minute hold. And when a representative finally answered, Battles was told that they could not resolve her problem and she was transferred to a specialist.

    To battles’ surprise, the specialist couldn’t cancel her policy either and referred her to the Event Resolution Center, who didn’t have an email address, direct number, or address to file a complaint. They provided Battles with a 1-800 number instead.

    When she finally contacted healthcare.gov, they told her that she could cancel her plan next month after her other coverage began–forcing her to pay the premium for two insurance policies.

    When asked what she learned from all of this Battles warned, “I hate to say it, but if you don’t have to go through the marketplace, don’t.”


    Jerome Hudson

    Managing Editor

    Jerome Hudson has written for numerous national outlets, including The Hill, National Review, and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and was recognized as one of Florida’s emerging stars, having been included in the list “25 Under 30: Florida’s Rising Young Political Class.” Hudson is a Savannah, Ga. native who currently resides in Florida.

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