Indeed, that title has a delicious double meaning because of this deal. It’s kinda funny. Background: so on Oct 1, 2013, Obamacare goes live in the sense you can enroll if you are eligible. The images linked above take you to some basic info on how it will work. But briefly, there are these super websites that each state was supposed to set up. With info and links and enrollment checklists for various policies offered under the ACA. Because this WH and HHS are relatively competent, they anticipated two important things: some states would drag their feet because they’re currently run by the inmates dedicated to destroying evil Obamacare, and the online process would be confusing to many who are eligible, especially people who don’t spend a lot of time surfing.

To address that issue HHS has enabled tens of thousands of navigators to be signed up who will help people enroll. The navigators will be available by phone, web ticket, and in many places marked as low income and low rates of health insurance, there will be an organized door-to-door effort to assist people who want to check eligibility and/or get enrolled.

Sure enough, in Florida, run by Rick Skeletor Scott and the pastel-white gaunter-liver gang running the state house and senate, no state exchange was created, of course, and the next step was shutting down navigators with appeals to wingnut paranoia and projection. In which navigators aren’t simply grossly underpaid specialized customer service agents and community volunteers trying to help people get life saving health insurance, oh no. Instead, the right is busy terrifying their grassroots that they’re about to be invaded by identity stealing, socialist fascists-and-probably-brown-people that they HAVE to let in and who WILL then rip off credit card numbers and pocket grandma’s china, because … that’s obviously what they would do given half a chance?

So they are pulling an Eric Cartman, the state authoritah, pronouncing navigators have to be insurance licensed or somehow credentialed. Which is impractical at this point, it takes time and planning, it costs a lot of money for study materials and standardized proctored exam in a state qualified testing facility. You get the idea. Except … hahahaha!

Orlando Sentinel –Florida lawmakers this year passed a law (SB 1842) that requires navigators hired in Florida to be registered with the state, be U.S. citizens or legal aliens and undergo background checks.But Scott and lawmakers also opted to let the federal government develop the health-care “exchange” that citizens could use to find plans, a move that also forfeited the state’s ability to hire, train and certify the navigators.

“They had the ability to control all of those issues themselves if they had chosen to set up a state exchange,” she said. “Because of their political obstinance, they forfeited their right to express those concerns.”

It turns out the county can go ahead and use their authoritah to allow navigators to operate. Maybe the state will try something stupid like arresting them, we are talking about full-blown depsrate wingnut conmen thugs here, but considered unlikely. Maybe the state will try to take it to court, but that will take time and cost more money. And apparently, this has been around for a few weeks, but these are sloppy conmen and they just now grokked it for realz.