If it's happening in Nevada,  chances are it's happening across the country - at least to some degree.

Already the subject of controversy, the Obamacare Healthcare exchanges are now coming under even more scrutiny after a report has surfaced showing potentially dangerous individuals are working as navigators,  or the folks who process applications.

The National Review Online has published a report this week, much to the dismay of Nevada's Division of Insurance, showing numerous employees have very checkered back-rounds, and the state didn't exactly screen them very well.

If you went to work for an insurance company, a bank, customer service company or any other firm where you would be handling sensitive personal information from clients, you can bet your back-round would be gone over with a fine-tooth comb.  My wife, who has spent 19 years in the banking industry, has been screened, tested, checked out, bonded and proven to have a clean, criminal free life.   Pretty thorough!

But in Nevada,  at least 8 healthcare navigators were found to have significant criminal back-rounds, and even more disturbing was that half of those people didn't disclose their criminal histories in their applications!   Nevada State Insurance Commissioner Scott Kipper approved conditional certification for several before their back-round checks were complete.  These people had access to Social Security numbers, home addresses, financial records and more!  We're not talking about low-level crimes committed years ago, or juvenile-type run ins with the law.  These are serious issues.

One navigator had been convicted of family violence battery in 2005; this same person had plead guilty to a 2002 shoplifting incident at Nordstrom's, and in 2012, violated a restraining order by going into the alleged victim's backyard.   According to the Review, it gets even "better":

"Another navigator was arrested in the 1980s for attempting to commit a fraud. “A guy friend . . . helped me obtain [forged] ID so I could open a bank account and make deposits to allow [completed checks] to clear the bank and the funds to be dispersed,” the navigator wrote. Though it was a felony charge, after restitution and a six-month stint at Santa Clara County Halfway Program, the navigator ended up with a misdemeanor conviction."

Now some would argue people deserve a second chance, and often people who make mistakes learn from them and move on to become solid, upstanding citizens.  But unfortunately,  those crimes to carry lifelong baggage.   The navigator convicted of fraud would NEVER be allowed to work in a bank or credit union...sorry,  they can't trust you.  In most financially or information-sensitive industries, you have to be able to be "bonded" by the company.  Felony convictions or criminal back-rounds prevent that from happening, so no job!   Period!  It's also shocking that many of these 8 navigators had committed multiple offenses.

It's also very disturbing that many of them, as mentioned earlier, didn't disclose their criminal back-rounds to the Division of Insurance. Essentially, that's lying.    Nationwide, there have already been dozens of reports of clients information being mistakenly mailed to other clients,  of data being breached or misplaced via healthcare exchanges,  and widespread ineptitude when it comes to safeguarding people's security.

This only adds to the growing argument that this whole Affordable Care Act healthcare exchange is just a "clown show," but sadly, one that could wind up costing many Americans grief from identity theft and other security issues.

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