Three Legal Alternatives to Enrolling in Obamacare

ST. PAUL, Minn.—For years, Obamacare has been riddled with problems. The government-run health care system funnels patients’ private data into a huge federal information hub while the law’s health plans limit care, tie the hands of doctors on treatment options, and take more money out of the pockets of hard-working Americans.

Also, the new online method to sign up for state health care insurance exchanges has been found to be faulty and unsecured, leaving citizens frustrated and vulnerable as they research their health care options.

Twila Brase, patient advocate and co-founder of Citizens’ Council for Health Freedom, says there are better, smarter—and perfectly legal—alternatives to enrolling in Obamacare. Brase offers these three legal alternatives to enrolling in Obamacare:

1. Obtain private insurance. Find a plan outside the government bureaucracy in a real marketplace that meets the Affordable Care Act’s “minimum

essential coverage” requirement. This could include the private individual purchase of health insurance, a health insurance policy available from a

person’s employer or a policy purchased through a private health insurance exchange

2. Claim one or more of the nine exemptions to Obamacare. There are four exemptions from the individual mandate and five exemptions

(including an additional list of hardship exemptions) from the “uninsured tax.” The exempt include:

* Members of health-sharing organizations, certain religious groups that receive no Social Security and Native American tribes.

* Undocumented immigrants, incarcerated individuals, for whom health insurance is considered unaffordable (premiums after

subsidies/contributions exceed 8% of income). See the complete list at http://www.healthcare.gov/exemptions.

3. Go uninsured and pay the “uninsured tax.” Penalties for adults without required coverage begin at $95, or up to 1% of your income in 2014, whichever is greater, and increase annually. Penalties for children under age 18 begin at $47.50.

Twila Brase, a public health nurse and health freedom advocate, has been called one of the “100 Most Powerful People in Health Care” and one of “Minnesota’s 100 Most Influential Health Care Leaders.” She has been interviewed by CNN, Fox News, Minnesota Public Radio, NBC Nightly News, NBC’s Today Show, NPR, New York Public Radio, the Associated Press, Modern Healthcare, TIME, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and The Washington Times, among others. Brase shares health care-related news and commentary with the American public in her daily, 60-second radio feature, Health Freedom Minute, which airs on nearly 350 stations daily, including the 150-station American Family Radio Network and the 80-station Bott Radio Network. During these daily features, listeners can learn more about the agenda behind proposed health care initiatives, the ramifications of proposed policies and actions that can be taken to protect their health care choices, rights and privacy. Health Freedom Minute is sponsored by the Citizens’ Council for Health Freedom, a patient-centered national health freedom organization based in St. Paul, Minn. CCHF supports patient and doctor freedom, medical innovation and the right of citizens to a confidential patient-doctor relationship.