Tuesday Link RoundUp

“[Last] week, CMS staff detected anomalous activity in the Federally Facilitated Exchanges, or FFE’s Direct Enrollment pathway for agents and brokers … At this time, we believe that approximately 75,000 individuals’ files were accessed“

Quick, let’s put them in charge of health care for all!

■ Short Term Disability plans are generally a very affordable way to help keep food on the table and a roof over one’s head. And employers also often provide Family Leave benefits that include salary continuation. What happens, though, when these collide?

Well, FoIB Allison  Bell reports that new IRS regs may put the kibosh on those Short Term DI pans:

“The regulations could push many kinds of eligibility restrictions, including pre-existing condition exclusions, out of group short-term disability plans.”

And what would that do? Well, as we’ve seen from the ObamaCare debacle, this will of course increase rates for these plans, perhaps rendering them unaffordable, especially for smaller employers.

Behold the Law of Unintended(?) Consequences.

■ And finally, thanks to FoIB Steve Downey, we get some helpful ObamaCare news:

“Trump administration makes it easier to avoid Obamacare tax penalty … The new policy allows hardship exemptions to be claimed without “the documentary evidence or written explanation generally required.”

What does this mean? Well, think “Epstein’s Mom.”