Friday afternoon, I came face-to-face with the reason we should reject government-run health care. First, a little background is needed. I buy my insurance through the state of Minnesota. Because I’m considered part of the working poor, part of my insurance premiums are subsidized. Because of that, I’m required to submit information on how much money I’ve made over the previous 12 months. It’s important that you know that I’ve submitted that information with plenty of time to spare.

Friday, I got a notice that my policy would be cancelec if I didn’t supply them with this routine financial information. I immediately called the toll-free number, where I spent the next 10 minutes dealing with the touch-tone part. Then I was relegated to waiting another 5-10 minutes to talk with a representative. Mind you, this isn’t the bad part of the experience. This is nothing compared with what happened next.

When I finally got a representative, he brought up my file to see why I’d gotten this notice. He said that a case worker had a question about my paperwork so the case worker asked a superviser for their opinion and that the superviser said that my paperwork was incomplete.

I told the representative what I’d sent in and that it’s the same information that I’d sent in last September. What the representative said next got my blood boiling. He said “Well, everybody does things differently.” He then tried glossing over that part but I told him to stop right there. He continued to try talking over me but I wouldn’t let him off the hook.

When he stopped speaking, I said that that response was unacceptable, that I’d either complied with the law or I didn’t and that there wasn’t any gray area on that. The representative then repeated that “Everybody does things differently.” I didn’t let that slip, either, saying that there can’t be consistent compliance with the law if everyone does things differently.

Here’s the worst part: After confronting him on this, THE BUREAUCRAT HUNG UP ON ME!!!

At that point, I was so furious that I could’ve spit pole barn spikes through a brick wall at 100 paces. My first instinct was to call my adopted state representative, Steve Gottwalt. When I told Steve what had happened and what was said, his reaction was similar to mine, saying that the law is the law and that it’s clear on what’s required. He agreed with me that the law must be applied evenly or it’s meaningless.

Steve further said that bureaucrats don’t have the authority to ignore the laws’ specific provisions, that they aren’t suggestions of guidelines but actually are the law. Steve then said that I should call back in and request to speak with a superviser and to tell the superviser what had just happened.

When I called the number again and requested to speak with a superviser, I was connected with a woman named Nekheti. She couldn’t have been more professional. I explained what’d been said. She immediately apologized for the representative’s behavior, then she looked into how the problem could be resolved. Once we got to that stage, it literally took less than 3 minutes to solve the problem.

The problem that I see with how this was handled initially is what every American should be worried about. The law, which Steve is familiar with, was written very clearly. It isn’t difficult to know what’s expected. Despite the clarity of Minnesota’s law, the person handling the application still got it wrong, who then talked with a superviser who got it wrong, too.

We shouldn’t tolerate faceless bureaucrats dictating what’s acceptable and what isn’t. After all, THEY WORK FOR US!!! They don’t get to make up the rules. That’s the legislature’s job. The bureaucrats’ job is to verify that the laws are being obeyed. Nothing more, nothing less.

What’s most offensive is that the bureaucrat that I spoke with seemed offended when I told him that. That bureaucrat’s attitude was “Who do you think you are telling me how to do my job?”

I’m your boss!!! You work for me and the people of the state of Minnesota. Your job is to obey the law, not do whatever you think is right.

Technorati: Bureaucrat, Bureaucracy, Government Care, Anarchy, Lawlessness, Customer Service, Accountability, Steve Gottwalt, Solutions

Cross-posted at California Conservative