Wendell Potter: Gaming Obamacare to Benefit the Few
http://wendellpotter.com/2013/03/gaming-obamacare-to-benefit-the-few/
Making sure Americans become aware of that mandate and sign up for coverage before the end of the year will be an enormous undertaking, which is why Obamacare also includes a provision authorizing a broad range of organizations to serve as navigators to educate people about the laws requirements and help them find plans that meet their needs.
The law states that entities eligible to be navigatorsand to receive government grants to do the navigatinginclude trade, industry, and professional associations, commercial fishing industry organizations, ranching and farming organizations, community and consumer-focused nonprofit groups, chambers of commerce, unions, resource partners of the Small Business Administration, other licensed insurance agents and brokers, and other entities the Feds deem capable.
In the past, agents and brokers have largely had the marketplace all to themselves because there have been no other formally recognized navigators to help people decide what kind of insurance policy makes the most sense for them. The agents and brokers have made a good living as middlemen between consumers and insurance companies because the insurance companies they represent pay them a commission for every policy they sell.
As you can imagine, agents and brokers are not happy that all those other organizations will be able to help folks navigate the health insurance world. And so they are trying to get laws passed at the state level that for all practical purposes would make it difficult, time consuming and expensive for any of those other groups to qualify as navigators.