Dog Enrolls In Obamacare Health Insurance

Is Obamacare going to the dogs already?

Baxter the Yorkshire Terrier signed up for Obamacare, although that’s not what his owner Shane Smith had in mind.

Like millions of Americans, Smith’s existing healthcare insurance was cancelled because of Obamacare regulations. Smith, of Fort Collins. Colo., called the state exchange on the phone (rather than use the website) to apply for replacement coverage for himself.

The Colorado exchange subsequently sent him a letter indicating that Baxter was now enrolled in Obamacare. See embed above. Although Smith sought coverage for himself, the dog got coverage instead, which makes Baxter’s outcome in opening an Obamacare account more successful than tens of thousands of humans across the country.

Apparently the system confused the answer to a security question/password with the name of the applicant.

“Wow, this is so awesome that they have gone out of their way to sign up my 14-year-old Yorkie,” Smith said sarcastically. Added Smith: “It was pretty funny. Typical Obamacare, that they would insure your dog by mistake.”

When asked if the Yorkie qualified for an Obamacare subsidy, Smith joked that Baxter “is not working, but he has a five dollar co-pay now.” Smith also noted that Baxter has out of diaper (rather than out of pocket) expenses for healthcare.

Smith also admitted that he never expected his dog to be the new face of Obamacare.

Connect for Health Colorado, the exchange, said it had corrected the error, although Smith expressed some doubt as to whether he does indeed have insurance coverage. “There’s been a lot of headaches that’s come from all of this. All the phone calls. All the nonsense. They ended up giving me good coverage I think, but who knows if they’re going to take it away. As long as Baxter’s covered that’s all the counts.”

Separately, the White House pushed back the Obamacare 2014 open enrollment period to November 15, which just so happens to be 11 days after the November general election for Congress. Originally it was supposed to start on October 15. As The Inquisitr previously reported, Republicans argue that the 2014 Obamacare sign-up was cynically delayed because the White House is afraid that the steep rise in premiums will have an impact on getting Democrats, who are fighting for their political life, elected or reelected next year. Once the employer mandate takes effect on January 1, 2015, millions more Americans will encounter big changes in their health insurance coverage as a result of Obamacare regulations.