Norman Man Warns Others Over Obamacare Scare Letter

A Norman man receives a letter saying he applied for insurance with the Affordable Care Act and they need a bit more information. The only problem: he says not only did he never apply he never even visited the website.

When Kini Kay went to his mailbox last week he found a letter from the Health Insurance Marketplace, the division of the government where you can sign up for Obamacare.

"It starts out with my address and an application ID like an eight digit number," Kini says. "It says ‘ Dear Kini, confirm your information. You submitted an application for health coverage' I did not, I've never been anywhere near that website."

The letter goes on to direct Kay to healthcare.gov. 

"The main thing is they want me to log on and give the rest of my information to them," he says.

It concludes by providing the March 31 enrollment deadline.

"If we don't hear from you in 45 days from the date of this notice your tax credits will be denied. Open enrollment in the Marketplace ends March 31," the letter reads.

Except the letter is dated April 1, and Kay didn't get it until April 14.

"Sentence after sentence it's bizarrely contradictory and confusing. And it's dishonest. I never started an application," he said. 

A spokesperson with the Department of Health and Human services says they have been sending out the letters. But there's no way Kay would have received it if he never applied at the Marketplace. This is the first time they've heard from anyone saying they received this letter when they didn't apply.

The spokesperson says they continued to send out the letter after the March 31 deadline because of the policy that extended enrollment for those who had already begun the application process. The new deadline was April 15.

3/19/2014 Related Story: Coverage Gap Leaves Over 100k Oklahomans Without Insurance