“The first draft was as mind-numbing and complex as tax forms. Now the Obama administration is unveiling a simplified application for health insurance benefits under the federal health care overhaul,” the AP reports. “Details to be released Tuesday include a three-page short form that single people can fill out, administration officials said. Medicare chief Marilyn Tavenner, also overseeing the rollout of the health care law, called it ‘significantly shorter than industry standards.’”
But: “Although the new forms may be shorter, it's unclear whether the administration can get rid of all the complexity. That's because applicants will have to provide detailed snapshots of their incomes to see whether they qualify for government assistance. Individuals will have to gather tax returns, pay stubs and other financial records before filling out the application.”
AP: “President Barack Obama has met with Latino leaders ahead of an upcoming trip to Mexico and Costa Rica. Obama met Monday at the White House with leaders from National Council of La Raza, the National Hispanic Council on Aging and the League of United Latin American Citizens, plus seven other groups. The White House says they discussed economic interests the U.S. shares with Latin American nations, plus progress on poverty and inequality. Obama also assured the leaders that he'll make immigration legislation a top priority.”
“In connection with President Barack Obama's visit to the Middle East last month, the Palestinian Authority agreed to halt its drive to obtain further recognition from United Nations agencies, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad Al-Malki said Monday,” Politico writes.
“For seven-year-old Jack Hoffman, meeting President Obama in the Oval Office may have been just the second biggest day of his month,” the New York Daily News writes. “Hoffman, who is battling brain cancer, became a football hero when he took the field at an April 6 Nebraska Cornhuskers spring scrimmage to score a 69-yard touchdown.”
“Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg is taking fire from the left in his quest to reform the country’s immigration system,” Politico writes. “Progressives and environmental activists are fuming over recent television ads from the subsidiaries of Zuckerberg’s FWD.us umbrella group that tout lawmakers’ pro-Keystone XL pipeline and oil drilling positions.”
More: CREDO Action, the activist arm of cell phone company CREDO Mobile, is hoping to hit Zuckerberg where it hurts — on Facebook. The group is planning a Facebook advertising campaign that takes aim at the FWD.us ads. … The Sierra Club is taking a similar approach. The environmental group encouraged its members Monday to share a note that says, ‘Zuckerberg promoting dirty fuels? DISLIKE.’”