Think it's hard signing up for Obamacare? Try getting out of it

Here's an Obamacare horror story with a twist.

A Missouri woman wanted to disenroll from her Obamacare insurance policy. What she went through to do that will be the stuff of legend.

Fox News:

Missouri resident Lesli Hill learned the hard way that terminating an Affordable Care Act plan can be far more difficult than navigating the website to buy one. She spent six weeks being bounced from operator to operator, calling the help line, using the online chat, blasting out emails to anyone who would listen, before ultimately driving to Kansas City last week to enlist her insurance company's help. Only then was she able to break through the bureaucratic logjam, and cancel her policy. 

"It's consumed my whole life," she told FoxNews.com, albeit with a hint of relief in her voice as she described the Kafkaesque experience behind her. 

"I felt like I'd slipped into a parallel universe. ... It's just as hard to go off as it is to get on." 

Hill's experience stands as a cautionary tale to anyone who, for whatever reason, is trying to bow out of insurance they purchased on the exchanges. Hill's troubles started last fall, after the high-risk pool coverage she had was discontinued due to the health law. For lack of options, she went on the exchange and bought a policy with a $950-a-month premium. 

She wasn't thrilled about it, but at least she was covered. 

However, shortly afterward Hill, 62, learned she could once again purchase an individual plan -- with better benefits -- outside the exchange. She checked with Blue Cross Blue Shield in early December and was told she'd have to cancel her ObamaCare plan first. 

"At that point, I hadn't paid my premium ... so I thought okay, that'll be easy to do," she said. 

Ostensibly, yes. She tried using a simple "terminate button" on the website -- but it wasn't working. 

Thus started what we'll call the journey.

The tragicomic plight of Mrs. Hill reads like fiction. After having zero luck with the help line, she managed to find someone to talk to in government who might help:

Hill went on a blitz, breaking through to another layer at the HealthCare.gov help line. But the answer she was given was that cancellations are handled by a "special department," the number of which could not be given out. 

"He said, 'I'm not allowed to tell you that,'" Hill told FoxNews.com. "You've got to be kidding me."

No joke, ma'am. But remember - it's for your own good.

Finally, Mrs. Hill became so frustrated that she drove all the way across state to meet with her insurance company to see if they could help:

Fortunately for her, she said the insurance company was helpful, and worked through the federal help line with her until finally reaching someone who, despite not being pleasant about it, said the plan would be discontinued. She later confirmed it was. 

Hill is a grad student finishing her master's in psychology. She said she knew enough to, eventually, solve her dilemma. 

"But think of most people, when they would have given up," she said.

Bingo! She's figured it out. The singular unhelpfullness of the Obamacare "help line" is a feature, not a bug - at least when it comes to disenrolling. There's no changing your mind under Obamacare - once caught, you're hooked for life.

When asked for comment on this story, CMS gve a priceless response:

"Consumers should call the Marketplace consumer call center for assistance at 1-800-318-2596," the spokesman said.

Someone hit the "repeat" button.



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