If you’ve ever had a phone number that is, say, a digit off from a popular business, say Blockbuster Video, you know what a nuisance it is to field calls from people who dialed your number erroneously.
The New York State Health Department has taken that scenario a step further. Working in conjunction with federal Department of Health and Human Services, the state-run agency has mistakenly directed prospective Obamacare clients to non-health-related businesses.
One of them, the New York Post writes, is a cupcake shop in Brooklyn. Brooklyn Cupcake in Williamsburg has been besieged by callers, as many as 150, all seeking medical-insurance information.
“I have nothing to do with this,” said Carmen Rodriguez, the shop’s owner. “I run a very busy establishment, and I’m like, what is going on?”
All told, there are 288 wrong numbers being given out. But instead of encountering navigators who can offer personal assistance, callers are instead running afoul of frustrated business owners.
A limo company in the borough’s Red Hook section is likewise inundated with would-be Obamacare shoppers. “If you want me to get you a car, I can help you out,” Allen Amor of Apex Car & Limo is quoted as saying.
But the state health department reports that help is on the way. Spokesman Bill Schwarz told the Post it is working feverishly to correct the misinformation.
What was that Obama said about government being able to do anything the private sector can do?
