Wednesday, June 06, 2012

Steve Beshear violating KY Constitution

Governor Steve Beshear's Department of Insurance is arbitrarily applying the state's insurance laws to persecute hundreds of Kentucky Christians attempting to escape the ravages of ObamaCare. 

He should have to leave us all alone or take on all of us together, at one time.

At issue is Commonwealth of Kentucky v. Reinhold, a case in which the Kentucky Supreme Court in 2010 ruled that Christian Care Ministry's Medi-Share program is an illegal insurance company that should not be allowed to operate in the state.

Despite the ruling, Medi-Share has continued to operate in Kentucky without interruption. The Kentucky Department of Insurance is aware of this fact, but has done nothing about it.

This inaction represents arbitrary application of Chapter 304 of the Kentucky Revised Statutes. Arbitrary power is denied the state government by Section 2 of the Kentucky Bill of Rights.

This arbitrary action undoubtedly creates a chilling effect for Kentucky Christians seeking to exercise what little health care freedom remains under the ObamaCare law. The "Affordable Care Act" specifically exempts religious-based health care sharing ministries from its mandates.

Kentuckians calling the Department of Insurance seeking guidance on Christian Care Medi-Share are informed that the organization is under a court order not to operate in the state. Given that Christian Care Medi-Share is the biggest advertiser among the sharing organizations in Kentucky, this information must have a negative impact on those seeking this route to protect themselves from federal dictates.

Kentuckians eager to see the U.S. Supreme Court overturn ObamaCare this month need to be aware that their state government is already moving past ObamaCare and not in a way that protects their rights.

As it turns out, there are other sharing organizations and their relationship to the state is noteworthy as well.  A Department of Insurance spokeswoman indicated two other such organizations were on the radar screen for further examination: Samaritan Ministries and Christian Healthcare Ministries.

Both of these organizations would clearly receive the same ruling from the Kentucky Supreme Court that Medi-Share did in Commonwealth v. Reinhold because they "transfer risk" and because they receive funds from members and pay them out for the benefit of other members.

We can look at this one of two ways. Either we should be grateful to Governor Beshear and his Department of Insurance for (sort of) protecting us from non-profit organizations with long track records of serving the health care cost needs of their members more efficiently than government-approved health "insurance" companies do or we should immediately move to repeal any state laws preventing us from taking advantage of one of the very few available exemptions from ObamaCare before it is too late.

I'm for the latter approach. How about you?