Seeking a subsidy won’t be simple

Seeking a subsidy won’t be simple

That seemingly simple diagram of one’s application route to obtain a health insurance subsidy through Obamacare (“Study looks at tax credit eligibility,” Aug. 14 news story) is, in fact, not so simple. Furthermore, the accompanying article is incomplete.

A Fortran diagram shows there are actually 13 decision points, three of which have the possibility of looping (going nowhere) and two of which expose the applicant to legal scrutiny.

Two important facts are not mentioned in the accompanying article.

Foremost is that this subsidy application process has to be repeated each year to retain one’s subsidy.

So for 90 days, more or less, each year, you are exposed to your health insurance subsidy being screwed up by some faceless bureaucrat or a computer glitch.

Also not mentioned is the requirement that those receiving subsidies promptly report any changes in income or employment status to the IRS that would affect the amount of the subsidy, or face a penalty.

AL NELSON
MONETA

The hard choice: who’s least negative?

Re: “Cease and desist on political attacks,” Aug. 19 letter:

I am in total agreement with Regina Norman. Whenever anyone asks for whom I am voting, my stock answer is, “Whoever has the least ads.”

That is not totally true, but only because I could not count the ads.

What a waste of time and money to put ads on TV (or anywhere else) that say nothing about the candidate but only say what candidate No. 1 dislikes about candidate No. 2.

It will be hard to decide for whom to vote.

JUNE TEGENKAMP
ROANOKE

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