Determining Obamacare Eligibility Is Insanely Complicated

Yes, it involves a flowchart

It can take as many as six questions just to determine an individual's ability to buy insurance. An eight-question chain sorts out eligibility to eschew employer coverage and buy an individual plan with a tax credit instead.

In a way, this is a natural extension of the law's structure. The Affordable Care Act grows two different insurance programs, Medicaid and the individual market. Information on income levels is needed to figure out who qualifies for which one.

The Obama administration isn't collecting 21 pages of information for its own entertainment. It's collecting 21 pages of information to figure out where people land on this flowchart.