After several attempts to foist me off on voicemail, I FINALLY got someone from "Democratic Leader" Nancy Pelosi's office explain to me how people apply for waivers from provisions of Obamacare.
Turns out ordinary citizens can't, but I'll show you below how you can anyway.
Apparently only companies who donate poltically can apply.
Or at least that's the impression that Drew Hammill, deputy communications director at Pelosi's office gave me.
Along with instructions to apply for a waiver, which I will detail below, Drew sent me an item from Politico:
"But the consulting firm that helped the companies get the waivers appears to not be a big fan of President Obama, having donated to John McCain and several tea party favorites, according to a PULSE search of OpenSecrets.org. Executives at Flex-Plan (or FPS Inc.) of Washington state have donated at least $15,000 to Republicans since 2006, including the Republican Party of Washington and local candidates such as Dino Rossi. But they've also contributed to national tea party favorites such as Tom Coburn, Sharron Angle, Marco Rubio and the Republican National Committee and Club for Growth."
Hot news. A lobbying firm playing both sides of the street.
So this is where we've gotten to in this country:
One side responds to charges of corruption by saying "They did it too," in their most child-like voice.
Is there any better indictment regarding what's wrong with our country than the waiver controversy and Obamacare? I mean besides the stimulus plan, the bank bailout, auto bailout, cap-and-tax, the global warming hoax, QE2, runnaway inflation, a jobless recovery, an undeclared, illegal war in Libya....
The instructions
Send the following in an email to healthinsurance@hhs.gov (use "waiver" as the subject of the email):
1. The terms of the plan or policy form(s) for which a waiver is sought;
2. The number of individuals covered by the plan or policy form(s) submitted;
3. The annual limit(s) and rates applicable to the plan or policy form(s) submitted;
4. A brief description of why compliance with the interim final regulations would result in a significant decrease in access to benefits for those currently covered by such plans or policies, or significant increase in premiums paid by those covered by such plans or policies, along with any supporting documentation; and
5. An attestation, signed by the plan administrator or Chief Executive Officer of the issuer of the coverage, certifying 1) that the plan was in force prior to September 23, 2010; and 2) that the application of restricted annual limits to such plans or policies would result in a significant decrease in access to benefits for those currently covered by such plans or policies, or a significant increase in premiums paid by those covered by such plans or policies.
Although there is no provision for this, maybe indivduals can send an email to directly to Nancy Pelosi's office asking for a waiver too.
Who knows? Maybe one of you is a big donor.
Pelosi's office: AmericanVoices@mail.house.gov
And since, according to his web site at the White House "President Obama is committed to creating the most open and accessible administration in American history," you should probably ask him for a waiver too.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact
