Breaking: Door-To-Door Identity Theft Likely Under Obamacare
Kit Daniels
Like the TSA, a new wave of bureaucrats will abuse their power – this time by stealing your identities.
Similar to how the Transportation Security Administration attracts pedophiles with jobs providing easy access to children, Obamacare will attract identity thieves with jobs allowing them to go door-to-door to preach the “virtues” of Obamacare while extracting private information from Americans in their own homes.
Under Obamacare, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is implementing a “Navigator” program, which provides millions of dollars to non-profit groups nationwide to hire “Navigators” who will advise Americans on their Obamacare health “options” based on the sensitive information provided.
This sensitive information includes social security numbers, income levels, employment history and home addresses, all of which are more than enough to steal Americans’ identities for complete access to their credit and financial resources.
In a Sept. 20 letter to HHS, the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce asked the department to respond to its concerns over the “rushed implementation” of its Navigator program, including plans by non-profit groups to “engage in enrollment activities that increase the likelihood of fraud or abuse, including door-to-door contacts.”
“The recipient of one of the largest Navigator grants explained in their application that they expected a substantial portion of their program to involve door-to-door contacts,” the letter stated. “Another described their work plan as involving ‘door-to-door outreach to 10,000 households per week.’”
The letter further emphasized that government officials had “confidence” Navigators would not go door-to-door to enroll Americans in Obamacare.
This confidence appears unfounded considering that identity thieves will likely be lured to the Navigator jobs, which allow easy access to sensitive information, pay an estimated $20 to $48 an hour and do not even require a background check.
Identity thieves could also just pretend to be real, government-sanctioned Navigators, scamming Americans out of their private data.
Although Section 1411 of Obamacare sets a fine of up to $25,000 for the improper use or disclosure of private information, identity thieves will unlikely be caught considering that the identity theft conviction rate is only 1 in 1,000.
In August, Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi expressed similar fears about the Navigator program.
“Because of time constraints, HHS [is] cutting back on the requirement to become a navigator, meaning they’re not going to be doing background checks,” she said in an interview with Fox. “Now these navigators will have our consumers throughout the country’s most personal and private information: tax return information, Social Security information.”
“And our biggest fear, of course, is identity theft.”
Bondi also indicated that even those with prior identity theft convictions can still become navigators.
In line with her fears, the Florida Dept. of Health has banned navigators from soliciting around county health departments.
Following that lead, Americans may need to hang up “No Obamacare Solicitation” signs on their front doors.
Below are some previous examples of government workers abusing their power, which reveal the future of Obamacare:
- The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), a collection of community-based organizations in the United States that pushed for health care for lower-income families among other things, was involved in multiple abuses:
In 2009, the Massachusettes Attorney General office exposed unprofessional behavior by a number of ACORN employees and poor management practices.
In 2008, a whistleblower revealed ACORN members embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from the organization and then covering it up as a “internal matter.”
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review also reported that the Obama campaign paid over $800,000 to an ACORN offshoot responsible for “get out and vote” programs.
- Sept. 2013: Two postal workers near Philadelphia were accused of stealing customers’ credit card numbers to purchase event tickets, gift cards and other items.
- Oct. 2011: A TSA agent was caught leaving sexual message in a passenger’s luggage based on the personal items he found during a search.
- May 2009: Motorists began suing the city of Tenaha, Texas after police arrested them for questionable charges and promised to release them if they forfeited their property.
- July 2008: President Obama proposed a “civilian national security force,” a domestic police force as well-funded as the Defense Department.