DALLAS, TX, November 12, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Taxpayer-funded employees tasked with enrolling Americans in ObamaCare's insurance plans have been caught on video telling their clients to lie. Some of those navigators are also working with an overtly political organization whose goal is to turn Texas into a Democratic-leaning state, according to investigative reporter James O'Keefe.
The footage has caused one U.S. Senator to demand the navigator program be terminated.
James O'Keefe of Project Veritas, who has a history of pro-life exposés, sent an undercover reporter to the National Urban League in Dallas to enroll in a health insurance plan offered through the Affordable Care Act.
Due to the complexity of the health care reform law, the federal government has distributed $67 million in grants to hire ObamaCare navigators, whose job is to help people enroll in the best program for their needs.
But barely a month into the program's launch, some navigators are giving their clients legally suspect advice, according to O'Keefe's videos.
A video released today shows the undercover journalist tell navigators he makes cash “on the side” and has never reported any of the income to the IRS.
A navigator, whom the video names as “Lakisha Williams,” said if he had not declared the money, “it never happened…Never report it.”
Another, “Mrs. Dorothy,” said, “Don't get yourself in trouble by declaring it now,” warning him rightly that he would open himself to an IRS audit, since the IRS has access to ObamaCare enrollment papers.
“I always lie on mine,” a navigator said in the video.
The reporter also says navigators told him to avoid the hefty penalties the new law imposes on smokers: “You lie because your premiums will be higher.”
The video, which is edited, is said to be the first in a series. An unedited version has not yet been released. However, its allegations illustrate longstanding concerns about the role these employees will play.
ObamaCare navigators, who are hired and vetted by 105 private organizations nationwide, are not federal workers but have access to the federal data hub. That vast data portal contains access to every single American's Social Security number, tax form, banking information, and medical records – linking HHS to eight other federal agencies, including the IRS.
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Months ago, West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey drafted a letter signed by 12 other state attorneys general to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius warning of the system's flaws. “As it now stands, it is inevitable that HHS's vague 'standards' will result in improperly screened or inadequately trained personnel,” they wrote.
Sebelius testified before the Senate last week that screening potential navigators is the duty of the organizations receiving the $67 million in federal grants – among them Planned Parenthood, which received more than $655,000.
“We have contracts with the organizations, and they have taken the responsibility to screen their individual navigators and make sure that they are sufficiently trained for the job. And there's a self-attestation,” Sebelius said. “But it is possible” the groups could hire felons, she admitted in response to a question.
O'Keefe raised additional concerns that the group Enroll America was improperly sharing sensitive information with Battleground Texas, a “grassroots organization dedicated to turning Texas blue.”
The attorneys general noted in August that, while the law bars navigators from sharing IRS documents, it does not cover all documentation included in the health insurance enrollment process.
After today's video went viral, Senator John Cornyn of Texas called for the navigator program to be canceled.