Yikes! California Hires Former Criminals To Work As ObamaCare Navigators

Californians attempting to sign up for the ObamaCare exchanges have good reason to be wary. National Review broke a story this morning confirming 43 convicted criminals are currently serving as ObamaCare navigators in the Golden State, according to statistics released by Covered California.

Previous misconduct of these navigators include forgery, welfare fraud, burglary, and domestic-violence charges as far back as 1982. But more recent crimes committed since 2000 consist of child abuse, battery, petty theft, and evading a police officer.

These same people have access to sensitive information such as social security numbers, medical records, and financial data of potential enrollees.

And if that wasn’t enough, a lawyer for California Covered wrote to National Review, “Disclosing the names and criminal records of individuals applying to assist in Covered California’s push to enroll vast numbers in health insurance by March 31, 2014, is likely to discourage participation in this critical program and thus harm the people of California.”

Evidently, the California exchange is afraid of dissuading potential customers from signing up for ObamaCare. They’d rather not make their employees’ names public knowledge, despite the risk to Californians’ private records.

The ObamaCare exchanges have proven they don’t work on their own, let alone with individuals who have prior records and convictions of significant crimes at the helm.

From National Review:

At least 43 convicted criminals are working as Obamacare navigators in California, including three individuals with records of significant financial crimes.

Although some of the offenses are decades old, and although convicted criminals account for only 1 percent of the 3,729 certified enrollment counselors in the state, Californians still have good cause to be concerned about their privacy.

Even a single crooked navigator could do significant harm to the public. That’s because when navigators sign consumers up for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, they have access to lots of private information, including Social Security numbers, home addresses, and financial data — basically, everything on the wish list of identity thieves and fraudsters. Navigators also are likely to work with a population that is more vulnerable than average.