Obama administration simplifies healthcare form

WASHINGTON (AP) — 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. 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.'' The earlier draft of the application was widely panned, and administration allies feared uninsured people would give up in frustration. Administration officials say they have trimmed the paperwork burden back considerably.