The Kentucky Department of Insurance has now received responses from two Christian health sharing companies under investigation for operating as illegal insurance companies. A state official this morning described the late responses as incomplete and said he would send follow-up questions early next week.
The two companies, Christian Healthcare Ministries and Samaritan Ministries, can't win a cat-and-mouse game with state insurance regulators. Changing Kentucky law to better follow our constitutional protection against arbitrary government power is the only way for this health insurance alternative to escape black market status in Kentucky.
Just letting these companies off the hook is no solution. In fact, doing so would only make the situation worse by increasing the sense of uncertainty in an environment with no fixed rules.
Christians should band together quickly to ensure Kentuckians have unfettered access to greater choices as ObamaCare destroys the more traditional ones. Non-Christians clearly have a stake in this too. They should push state government to restrict the definition of "insurance" in state law to better allow for the creation of a vibrant market in alternative financial products for them as well.
Friday, June 29, 2012
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Beshear wants Tea Party rematch
Back on May 7, Governor Steve Beshear's ObamaCare road show started in Frankfort. It ended abruptly the same day when a crowd of tea partiers showed up to ask questions about this government takeover of health care.
Governor Beshear's Health Cabinet Secretary Audrey Haynes told CN2's Ryan Alessi today they are going to give it another shot.
Stay tuned for updates. It will be on their turf again, on their terms. But they still can't answer the tough questions.
Governor Beshear's Health Cabinet Secretary Audrey Haynes told CN2's Ryan Alessi today they are going to give it another shot.
Stay tuned for updates. It will be on their turf again, on their terms. But they still can't answer the tough questions.
What's that in Mitt Romney's punch bowl?
Presidential candidate Mitt Romney might want to talk at length, clearly and forcefully, about the Supreme Court's ObamaCare ruling. Especially given that this is still on his campaign web site under the heading "Courts and the Constitution."
Justice Roberts' vote to uphold ObamaCare can be explained, but that's not the end of the story.
I think Romney's biggest problem isn't with the constitutionality of ObamaCare, which he has already addressed substantially. His problem is in the philosophical details of any kind of government takeover of healthcare and in the implementation of this one through health care "exchanges," a heinous bureaucracy capable of doing much more damage than even the individual mandate.
Federal funding has already been distributed to the states to set up these exchanges, of which Romney has gone on record in support. Don't think the Obama campaign will fail to let that detail slip out a few times before November.
Justice Roberts' vote to uphold ObamaCare can be explained, but that's not the end of the story.
I think Romney's biggest problem isn't with the constitutionality of ObamaCare, which he has already addressed substantially. His problem is in the philosophical details of any kind of government takeover of healthcare and in the implementation of this one through health care "exchanges," a heinous bureaucracy capable of doing much more damage than even the individual mandate.
Federal funding has already been distributed to the states to set up these exchanges, of which Romney has gone on record in support. Don't think the Obama campaign will fail to let that detail slip out a few times before November.
Beshear burns us in ObamaCare fire
Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear is about to announce his executive order throwing the Bluegrass State into ObamaCare via a health insurance exchange.
Avoiding a state-run exchange is the surest option left to prevent the Affordable Care Act from bankrupting us with unfunded mandates. Despite what Beshear will say, federal law explicitly allows states to opt out of setting up an exchange. The law also clearly gives the federal government control of so-called state health insurance exchanges, so the line he will give us about maintaining local control should be ignored.
Make sure you get your legislative candidates on the record for or against ObamaCare. In Jessamine County, House Democratic Caucus Leader Bob Damron is for ObamaCare and his Republican opponent Matt Lockett is opposed to it.
Avoiding a state-run exchange is the surest option left to prevent the Affordable Care Act from bankrupting us with unfunded mandates. Despite what Beshear will say, federal law explicitly allows states to opt out of setting up an exchange. The law also clearly gives the federal government control of so-called state health insurance exchanges, so the line he will give us about maintaining local control should be ignored.
Make sure you get your legislative candidates on the record for or against ObamaCare. In Jessamine County, House Democratic Caucus Leader Bob Damron is for ObamaCare and his Republican opponent Matt Lockett is opposed to it.
Kentucky Christian health story takes off
ObamaCare survived the U.S. Supreme Court, so now the focus turns to ways for citizens to survive in the brave new world of federally-controlled health care.
Religious-based health sharing should be the first stop for a lot of us.
Unfortunately, the states are not ready for this. And the Christian health sharing groups aren't either.
Kentucky must immediately change its Insurance Code to allow health sharing groups to help Kentuckians escape ObamaCare. No state does a good job of allowing this to happen, but Kentucky is unique in its hostility toward health sharers and in its constitutional protections that should allow them to escape our arbitrary laws prohibiting them from helping us.
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
"Kentucky versus Christians" escalates
Two illegal Kentucky health insurance companies failed today to respond to a state Department of Insurance inquiry about their activities. Letters dated June 12, 2012 from the Public Protection Cabinet required an explanation or justification to be made to the Commonwealth of Kentucky by today.
At issue is the marketing of health sharing plans by Christian HealthCare Ministries and Samaritan Ministries in conflict with state law. Both entities fail to meet the extremely narrow "Religious Publications Exemption" in Kentucky's Insurance Code that would allow them to operate here. This Code also defines "insurance" so broadly as to make nearly anyone fall under its jurisdiction.
The Commonwealth has been battling a third health sharing group, Christian Care Medi-Share for more than a decade. Their case has come to an odd standstill.
Given that health insurance consumers' interests would be better served by more competing firms in an open and transparent marketplace, a solution would be to expand the "Religious Publications Exemption" to allow any church or religious organization to act as an unregulated health insurer.
A better solution would be to change the definition of "insurance" in state law from anyone engaged in shifting risk to anyone who voluntarily signs up with the Insurance Department to be regulated as an insurance company.
That way, we could have two insurance markets: one with direct government oversight and one without in order to maximize consumer choice and also to gauge the efficacy of alternative regulatory schemes.
The Public Protection Cabinet is expected to send out a second round of letters tomorrow, demanding a response and threatening fines and further legal action.
At issue is the marketing of health sharing plans by Christian HealthCare Ministries and Samaritan Ministries in conflict with state law. Both entities fail to meet the extremely narrow "Religious Publications Exemption" in Kentucky's Insurance Code that would allow them to operate here. This Code also defines "insurance" so broadly as to make nearly anyone fall under its jurisdiction.
The Commonwealth has been battling a third health sharing group, Christian Care Medi-Share for more than a decade. Their case has come to an odd standstill.
Given that health insurance consumers' interests would be better served by more competing firms in an open and transparent marketplace, a solution would be to expand the "Religious Publications Exemption" to allow any church or religious organization to act as an unregulated health insurer.
A better solution would be to change the definition of "insurance" in state law from anyone engaged in shifting risk to anyone who voluntarily signs up with the Insurance Department to be regulated as an insurance company.
That way, we could have two insurance markets: one with direct government oversight and one without in order to maximize consumer choice and also to gauge the efficacy of alternative regulatory schemes.
The Public Protection Cabinet is expected to send out a second round of letters tomorrow, demanding a response and threatening fines and further legal action.
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Extreme Frankfort inaction leaves us hanging
Wednesday marks eleven months since Kentucky's last official action on the rights of Kentuckians to protect themselves from excessive healthcare regulation in the case of Christian Care Medi-Share. This unacceptable delay wastes precious healthcare dollars we can not afford to throw away.
July 27, 2011 was the day Kentucky's Department of Insurance filed a contempt of court motion against Christian Care Medi-Share for operating in the state despite a March 1, 2011 Franklin Circuit Judge's permanent injunction against their continued operation here.
Medi-Share is still actively operating in Kentucky and falsely telling potential members there is no legal issue preventing them from doing so. The Kentucky Department of Insurance continues to ignore other such organizations operating in similar violation of state law. Continued official silence in this matter fails to serve the public interest regarding the pursuit of reasonable health coverage just as government is moving swiftly to otherwise limit our choices.
Please call Franklin Circuit Judge Thomas Wingate at 502-564-8382 and ask him to rule on the contempt motion in Commonwealth v. Reinhold without further delay.
Friday, June 22, 2012
What's your health regulation tax?
A full analysis to compare health insurance policies usually involves looking at premiums, deductibles, co-insurance, maximum coverage amounts and exclusions.
One very important element in the cost of health insurance that doesn't usually come up is the cost of regulation. The point seems moot because we think of health coverages all being regulated the same way, so there is no reason to consider what those costs are.
But there is more to the story.
No matter how the U.S. Supreme Court rules on ObamaCare, the nearly certain shake-up in the health insurance market that results may send you hunting for a new way to pay for your medical needs. If you are a Christian, you might want to take a long look at Christian health sharing plans.
And that's where the cost of regulation comes into the equation in a big way.
Christian health sharing plans (Christian Care Medi-Share, Samaritan Ministries and Christian Healthcare Ministries to name three) don't fall completely under state regulation. Also, they are mostly exempt from regulation under the Affordable Care Act -- the part of the law most likely to survive even if the individual mandate is thrown out.
The relative lack of government regulation results in dramatically lower pricing for the sharing plans. That's not to say that they are automatically superior to government-approved plans, though. And this distinction is extremely important.
State regulators across the country, probably without exception, hate Christian health sharing organizations and have taken pains to keep us from flocking to them. I'd love to be proven wrong on this point, but I'm not holding my breath waiting for it to happen.
Every state law I have seen that mentions them takes pains to limit the ability of health sharing organizations to operate to their full potential. The standard approach requires them to state explicitly that there is no promise claims will be paid. That could seem pretty scary, but really only if you haven't done much research into health sharing plans or government-regulated plans.
"Regular" health insurance is just a one year contract. That should be horrifying for anyone on one as well as motivating for anyone who learns health sharing plans are not limited as to their terms.
The lack of legal support for health sharing plans is the only thing really holding them back. Kentucky's schizophrenic approach to them may be worse than any state's in the nation, but they all appear to be pretty bad.
Christian health sharing organizations are alternatives to health insurance that are barely, if at all, legally permissible in Kentucky. The problem has much more to do with bad law than with the organizations and their health plans.
A bill to expand the Religious Publications Exemption to the Kentucky Insurance Code would be a big help. Specifically, striking all of KRS 304.1-120(7) except for (c) would get the government off the backs of these good organizations and allow a strong self-regulating market to develop to benefit Christians all over Kentucky who would otherwise be victimized by the coming exploding costs in government-regulated health insurance.
What amounts to a "health regulation tax" really just benefits government health regulators. We can't afford their taxes anymore.
One very important element in the cost of health insurance that doesn't usually come up is the cost of regulation. The point seems moot because we think of health coverages all being regulated the same way, so there is no reason to consider what those costs are.
But there is more to the story.
No matter how the U.S. Supreme Court rules on ObamaCare, the nearly certain shake-up in the health insurance market that results may send you hunting for a new way to pay for your medical needs. If you are a Christian, you might want to take a long look at Christian health sharing plans.
And that's where the cost of regulation comes into the equation in a big way.
Christian health sharing plans (Christian Care Medi-Share, Samaritan Ministries and Christian Healthcare Ministries to name three) don't fall completely under state regulation. Also, they are mostly exempt from regulation under the Affordable Care Act -- the part of the law most likely to survive even if the individual mandate is thrown out.
The relative lack of government regulation results in dramatically lower pricing for the sharing plans. That's not to say that they are automatically superior to government-approved plans, though. And this distinction is extremely important.
State regulators across the country, probably without exception, hate Christian health sharing organizations and have taken pains to keep us from flocking to them. I'd love to be proven wrong on this point, but I'm not holding my breath waiting for it to happen.
Every state law I have seen that mentions them takes pains to limit the ability of health sharing organizations to operate to their full potential. The standard approach requires them to state explicitly that there is no promise claims will be paid. That could seem pretty scary, but really only if you haven't done much research into health sharing plans or government-regulated plans.
"Regular" health insurance is just a one year contract. That should be horrifying for anyone on one as well as motivating for anyone who learns health sharing plans are not limited as to their terms.
The lack of legal support for health sharing plans is the only thing really holding them back. Kentucky's schizophrenic approach to them may be worse than any state's in the nation, but they all appear to be pretty bad.
Christian health sharing organizations are alternatives to health insurance that are barely, if at all, legally permissible in Kentucky. The problem has much more to do with bad law than with the organizations and their health plans.
A bill to expand the Religious Publications Exemption to the Kentucky Insurance Code would be a big help. Specifically, striking all of KRS 304.1-120(7) except for (c) would get the government off the backs of these good organizations and allow a strong self-regulating market to develop to benefit Christians all over Kentucky who would otherwise be victimized by the coming exploding costs in government-regulated health insurance.
What amounts to a "health regulation tax" really just benefits government health regulators. We can't afford their taxes anymore.
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Judge to rule against Kentucky Christians
A Kentucky judge is about to send thousands of Christians scrambling for new health coverage when he finds a religious health sharing group in contempt of a court order.
Franklin Circuit Judge Thomas Wingate said through a spokesperson that his ruling on a Department of Insurance motion to find Christian Care Medishare in contempt of court will come soon.
Wingate has no choice but to rule against Kentucky Christians under state law and despite an exemption for such groups in the federal ObamaCare law.
The solution to this mess is to change Kentucky law in favor of health care freedom right away.
Franklin Circuit Judge Thomas Wingate said through a spokesperson that his ruling on a Department of Insurance motion to find Christian Care Medishare in contempt of court will come soon.
Wingate has no choice but to rule against Kentucky Christians under state law and despite an exemption for such groups in the federal ObamaCare law.
The solution to this mess is to change Kentucky law in favor of health care freedom right away.
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Indiana could have Christian health problem, too
Christian health sharing organizations, exempt from ObamaCare, have put on a full-court press across the country in recent years to gain exemption from regulation by state governments.
Effective July 1, Indiana joins a collection of mostly conservative states who have taken legal steps to secure the rights of Christians to gain private healthcare regardless of federal government actions.
Kentucky has completely missed this opportunity so far, possibly because health sharing lobbyists mistakenly thought they had already changed Kentucky law.
But Indiana Christians may be operating under a false sense of security. You can look at the language of the new Indiana law here.
A court could very easily rule that any of the major health sharing organizations violates Sections 4 or 5 of the law if the organization takes possession of any member sharing funds at any point or if the court views penalties against failure to make timely payment between members as a form of breach of contract and, therefore, part of a failed "promise to pay" that puts the organization back under Indiana Department of Insurance regulation.
Christians really are going to have to look beyond little legislative tweaks and narrow exemptions if they really want to protect their health care freedoms at the state level.
Kentucky can lead on this issue by calling a special legislative session and changing the definition of "insurance" to include only companies that are registered as such with the Department of Insurance.
Effective July 1, Indiana joins a collection of mostly conservative states who have taken legal steps to secure the rights of Christians to gain private healthcare regardless of federal government actions.
Kentucky has completely missed this opportunity so far, possibly because health sharing lobbyists mistakenly thought they had already changed Kentucky law.
But Indiana Christians may be operating under a false sense of security. You can look at the language of the new Indiana law here.
A court could very easily rule that any of the major health sharing organizations violates Sections 4 or 5 of the law if the organization takes possession of any member sharing funds at any point or if the court views penalties against failure to make timely payment between members as a form of breach of contract and, therefore, part of a failed "promise to pay" that puts the organization back under Indiana Department of Insurance regulation.
Christians really are going to have to look beyond little legislative tweaks and narrow exemptions if they really want to protect their health care freedoms at the state level.
Kentucky can lead on this issue by calling a special legislative session and changing the definition of "insurance" to include only companies that are registered as such with the Department of Insurance.
Health sharing group responds, but still incorrectly
The fight for health care freedom in Kentucky still faces odd resistance from marketers of the closest thing to Liberty-oriented health coverage available to Kentuckians.
It's time for that to stop.
As of yesterday, the Alliance of Health Care Sharing Ministries had posted on their web site false information justifying their exemption from Kentucky state insurance regulation. Today, the information is changed but it is still false.
The statute referenced above is the Religious Publications Exemption which would exclude health sharing organizations from regulation if they did not in any way act as a financial intermediary between customers and health care providers. The organizations I have looked at all function as intermediaries.
Again, the problem is with the law. Kentucky's definition of insurance is so overly broad it essentially means whatever insurance regulators want it to mean. This exemption is so narrow as to apply to only extremely small organizations. In fact, if your church ever pays medical bills for needy members, it could be shut down by state government under current law.
Additionally, Kentucky has a unique constitutional provision that turns this whole mess on its head potentially for the benefit of all Americans. Section 2 of the Kentucky Bill of Rights prohibits government at any level from exercising arbitrary power.
Kentucky's Insurance Code is the poster child for arbitrary power because it is authorized to exercise control over people without clearly defined limits on the scope of that power.
Fixing this problem involves a simple approach which would serve Liberty for Kentuckians right away and then spread like wildfire over the rest of the country. The approach involves decriminalizing the selling of "unauthorized" insurance in the state.
Look at it this way: the Commonwealth of Kentucky has been burning public resources for a decade trying to chase Christian Care Medi-Share out of the state. Today the company still operates here and the Department of Insurance is still claiming to care about consumer protection.
Let the legislature define "insurance" to mean only companies who voluntarily request government regulation. Some actually might. The big insurers have grown accustomed to the government protection; let them have it if they wish.
But a shadow economy in insurance need not be a black market. We could have a "free" market to go alongside the "government" market and let the people decide which works better. Kentucky's Constitution specifically creates this opportunity for us, we just have to invoke it.
Alliance of Health Sharing Ministries, that means you. Your member organization, Christian Care Medi-Share is already in a legal battle for its ability to serve customers in this state. Stop screwing around with your web site and come to their aid with the Kentucky Constitution as the only weapon you need.
Monday, June 18, 2012
A 9 year old mistake in Christian health debate
Resistance from Christian health sharing organizations has stymied what should be easy collaboration to battle Kentucky's unconstitutional insurance regulatory regime.
I just figured out what the problem is.
The Alliance of Health Care Sharing Ministries reports on its web site that Kentucky passed a law in 2003 to allow health sharing entities to act as a conduit for funds. Such a change in the law might clear up a major problem regulators and the Kentucky Supreme Court have with these organizations.
The only problem with this is the bill failed to pass. Never even got a floor vote in the House, where it originated.
This mistake appears to be what is causing the Christian health sharing organizations to think they are on solid ground in Kentucky. They would do well to check the facts and reconsider their failing strategy right away. It's an embarrassing screw up, to be sure, but the best solution is to join in and fight against the flawed reasoning of insurance regulation.
Given the substantial uniformity of state insurance regulation, making Kentucky a focal point for reform could yield fantastic results.
The ObamaCare U.S. Supreme Court decision coming any day now is really just the beginning of the health care freedom battle in America. Getting with the program, therefore, presents a very powerful opportunity for marketers of Christian health sharing programs.
I just figured out what the problem is.
The Alliance of Health Care Sharing Ministries reports on its web site that Kentucky passed a law in 2003 to allow health sharing entities to act as a conduit for funds. Such a change in the law might clear up a major problem regulators and the Kentucky Supreme Court have with these organizations.
The only problem with this is the bill failed to pass. Never even got a floor vote in the House, where it originated.
This mistake appears to be what is causing the Christian health sharing organizations to think they are on solid ground in Kentucky. They would do well to check the facts and reconsider their failing strategy right away. It's an embarrassing screw up, to be sure, but the best solution is to join in and fight against the flawed reasoning of insurance regulation.
Given the substantial uniformity of state insurance regulation, making Kentucky a focal point for reform could yield fantastic results.
The ObamaCare U.S. Supreme Court decision coming any day now is really just the beginning of the health care freedom battle in America. Getting with the program, therefore, presents a very powerful opportunity for marketers of Christian health sharing programs.
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Sen. Mike Lee swings too hard for Romney
An old lawyer saying counsels counselors to bang on the law if they don’t have good facts, to bang on the facts if they don’t have good law and to bang on the table if they have neither good law nor good facts.
Senator Mike Lee is an old lawyer, trying to defend Gov. Mitt Romney’s pick of Gov. Mike Leavitt to head his White House transition team should he be elected president in November. And Senator Lee is definitely banging on the table.
Asked last week to explain how a man who spent the last couple of years making a fortune encouraging states to implement ObamaCare on the flimsy (and incorrect) reasoning that “local control” is an option under the law is now going to help lead the way on dismantling it, Sen. Lee turned to the famous straw man argument.
Lee dismissed worries about the fact that Leavitt was profiting from the implementation of President Obama’s health care law.“If the rule were, you cannot be considered a conservative, or even palatable to any conservatives under any circumstances if you have operated in or especially made a profit in any area that isn’t 100 percent governed by free market, no one would qualify,” Lee said. “The truth is there are so many things, especially in the post-Obamacare world, where the market isn’t really free.”
Please. We aren’t talking about judging Gov. Leavitt a conservative or even talking at all about government-supported profit, much less demanding a complete absence of it. We are talking about measuring Leavitt’s credibility in the role of bolstering the already shaky credibility of a Republican nominee on the top issue that gives would-be supporters pause.
Banging on the table at a moment like this serves only to hold Romney back in a race he should be walking away with.
Red State has already asked nicely once.
Commonwealth of Kentucky v. Christians begins
The Kentucky Department of Insurance has acknowledged receipt of complaints against two Christian health sharing organizations for illegally selling health insurance to citizens of the Commonwealth.
The organizations are Samaritan Ministries and Christian Healthcare Ministries. The Department demanded, on Monday June 11, a response from them within two weeks.
Such religious-based health sharing organizations are exempt from ObamaCare mandates, sparing their members at least some of the negative effects of the federal law euphemistically dubbed by Congress the "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act."
At issue is Kentucky law, which defines insurance as "a contract whereby one undertakes to pay or indemnify another as to loss from certain specified contingencies or perils called 'risks.'" This means essentially that most human interactions could constitute "insurance" and invite regulation under the state's insurance code.
An example I have been using is that if I sell you an umbrella on a cloudy day, I could be considered your insurance company under state law. It sounds ridiculous, but it applies to a law that is so overly broad as to be hazardous to our liberties.
A "religious publications exemption" found in state law has been cited as a way for these religious health sharing organizations to escape state regulation. But the Kentucky Supreme Court ruled in 2010 (Commonwealth v. Reinhold) that "the (sharing organization) must be set up so that one subscriber sends the money for assistance to the other subscriber without the money passing through an intermediary."
Both organizations fail on this point, though Samaritan in most cases at least usually operates merely as an information source linking financial needs with payors and suggesting payments.
So, in the eyes of the law, both sharing organizations are insurance companies and should -- again, under the law -- be regulated. Given Kentucky's overzealous regulatory regime, that means shutting them down.
The point of this exercise is that insurance regulation has proven in dramatic fashion to be at least counter-productive by providing an illusion of consumer protection as well as an impossible to miss negative impact on pricing of services. Before we fall for giving near-total control of our health care system to federal and state governments, we should take a closer look at how such control is and has been handled in Frankfort.
If we do that, we ought to agree to dismantle insurance regulation altogether.
The organizations are Samaritan Ministries and Christian Healthcare Ministries. The Department demanded, on Monday June 11, a response from them within two weeks.
Such religious-based health sharing organizations are exempt from ObamaCare mandates, sparing their members at least some of the negative effects of the federal law euphemistically dubbed by Congress the "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act."
At issue is Kentucky law, which defines insurance as "a contract whereby one undertakes to pay or indemnify another as to loss from certain specified contingencies or perils called 'risks.'" This means essentially that most human interactions could constitute "insurance" and invite regulation under the state's insurance code.
An example I have been using is that if I sell you an umbrella on a cloudy day, I could be considered your insurance company under state law. It sounds ridiculous, but it applies to a law that is so overly broad as to be hazardous to our liberties.
A "religious publications exemption" found in state law has been cited as a way for these religious health sharing organizations to escape state regulation. But the Kentucky Supreme Court ruled in 2010 (Commonwealth v. Reinhold) that "the (sharing organization) must be set up so that one subscriber sends the money for assistance to the other subscriber without the money passing through an intermediary."
Both organizations fail on this point, though Samaritan in most cases at least usually operates merely as an information source linking financial needs with payors and suggesting payments.
So, in the eyes of the law, both sharing organizations are insurance companies and should -- again, under the law -- be regulated. Given Kentucky's overzealous regulatory regime, that means shutting them down.
The point of this exercise is that insurance regulation has proven in dramatic fashion to be at least counter-productive by providing an illusion of consumer protection as well as an impossible to miss negative impact on pricing of services. Before we fall for giving near-total control of our health care system to federal and state governments, we should take a closer look at how such control is and has been handled in Frankfort.
If we do that, we ought to agree to dismantle insurance regulation altogether.
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Let's rock the health care debate
Kentucky has a history of being notoriously bad on health insurance issues.
We now have an interesting opportunity to push back in a big way, but need some
national help to do it.
In 1994, after the failure of HillaryCare, Kentucky destroyed its individual health insurance market by requiring insurers to accept all applications regardless of health status. Dozens of health insurance companies immediately left the state, leaving only one. The legislature subsequently restored some sanity to the marketplace, but some big problems remain.
Enter ObamaCare.
A small corner of the ObamaCare debate has escaped the national spotlight. That corner is occupied by religious-based health sharing organizations, which are exempt from the so-called Affordable Care Act.
Three such organizations, Christian Care Medi-Share, Samaritan Ministries and Christian Healthcare Ministries are at the center of a very quiet debate running right to the heart of what is wrong with the idea of government regulating health care.
In 2002, Kentucky filed a lawsuit against Christian Care Medi-Share, alleging that the company fit the state’s definition of an insurance company and needed to be regulated as such. This effectively destroys the company’s ability to operate in the state because their ability to avoid the state’s crazy quilt of mandates and their much lower premiums are what could make them a better choice for some consumers.
To their credit, Medi-Share refused to just go away quietly. They won exemptions in court while the state kept appealing. In 2010, the Kentucky Supreme Court ruled against Medi-Share and the state moved then to remove them from Kentucky.
To their credit, again, Medi-Share refused to leave. And this is where it gets really interesting.
Perhaps realizing they don’t want to get caught on the wrong side of the Affordable Care Act — actually worse than ObamaCare! — just as the fire gets really hot, Kentucky has stopped fighting to remove Medi-Share. They still tell callers to the Department of Insurance consumer information line that Medi-Share is operating illegally and shouldn’t be trusted to serve citizens’ health care financing needs, but there has been no official action against the company for almost a year.
And the sad truth is that, given the way the state law is written, Kentucky is on solid ground in persecuting the Christians who seek refuge from federal overreach through Medi-Share.
And that’s where the other Christian health sharing companies enter the story. A Kentucky Department of Insurance spokeswoman told me almost three weeks ago that further action against Medi-Share was imminent and that while Samaritan and Christian Healthcare had previously been investigated and found to be properly operating outside the bounds of state insurance regulation, they would be investigated again.
There has been no apparent official action since then. And the truth is Samaritan and Christian Healthcare also operate in conflict with Kentucky law.
Arbitrary application of the law is prohibited by Kentucky’s Constitution. State regulators have created a chilling effect on consumers and Christian health sharing organizations with their actions. The proper action is to enforce the law universally or to repeal it and allow this opportunity for health freedom to flourish.
Kentucky needs to repeal this worse-than-ObamaCare provision in state law by redefining “insurance” in KRS Chapter 304 to exclude health sharing organizations and we need to do it this summer in special session to prevent further harm to Kentucky Christians.
And if, in doing so, we expand those freedoms beyond just Christians, then so much the better. But to do any of this, we need to draw national attention to this fight. Please spread the word as widely as you can.
In 1994, after the failure of HillaryCare, Kentucky destroyed its individual health insurance market by requiring insurers to accept all applications regardless of health status. Dozens of health insurance companies immediately left the state, leaving only one. The legislature subsequently restored some sanity to the marketplace, but some big problems remain.
Enter ObamaCare.
A small corner of the ObamaCare debate has escaped the national spotlight. That corner is occupied by religious-based health sharing organizations, which are exempt from the so-called Affordable Care Act.
Three such organizations, Christian Care Medi-Share, Samaritan Ministries and Christian Healthcare Ministries are at the center of a very quiet debate running right to the heart of what is wrong with the idea of government regulating health care.
In 2002, Kentucky filed a lawsuit against Christian Care Medi-Share, alleging that the company fit the state’s definition of an insurance company and needed to be regulated as such. This effectively destroys the company’s ability to operate in the state because their ability to avoid the state’s crazy quilt of mandates and their much lower premiums are what could make them a better choice for some consumers.
To their credit, Medi-Share refused to just go away quietly. They won exemptions in court while the state kept appealing. In 2010, the Kentucky Supreme Court ruled against Medi-Share and the state moved then to remove them from Kentucky.
To their credit, again, Medi-Share refused to leave. And this is where it gets really interesting.
Perhaps realizing they don’t want to get caught on the wrong side of the Affordable Care Act — actually worse than ObamaCare! — just as the fire gets really hot, Kentucky has stopped fighting to remove Medi-Share. They still tell callers to the Department of Insurance consumer information line that Medi-Share is operating illegally and shouldn’t be trusted to serve citizens’ health care financing needs, but there has been no official action against the company for almost a year.
And the sad truth is that, given the way the state law is written, Kentucky is on solid ground in persecuting the Christians who seek refuge from federal overreach through Medi-Share.
And that’s where the other Christian health sharing companies enter the story. A Kentucky Department of Insurance spokeswoman told me almost three weeks ago that further action against Medi-Share was imminent and that while Samaritan and Christian Healthcare had previously been investigated and found to be properly operating outside the bounds of state insurance regulation, they would be investigated again.
There has been no apparent official action since then. And the truth is Samaritan and Christian Healthcare also operate in conflict with Kentucky law.
Arbitrary application of the law is prohibited by Kentucky’s Constitution. State regulators have created a chilling effect on consumers and Christian health sharing organizations with their actions. The proper action is to enforce the law universally or to repeal it and allow this opportunity for health freedom to flourish.
Kentucky needs to repeal this worse-than-ObamaCare provision in state law by redefining “insurance” in KRS Chapter 304 to exclude health sharing organizations and we need to do it this summer in special session to prevent further harm to Kentucky Christians.
And if, in doing so, we expand those freedoms beyond just Christians, then so much the better. But to do any of this, we need to draw national attention to this fight. Please spread the word as widely as you can.
Monday, June 11, 2012
Score one for NFIB, sort of
A newly released state government survey on ObamaCare implementation in Kentucky shows widespread confusion and apathy even among Governor Beshear's hand-picked "stakeholders" about how the state should proceed with its key decision in the process, whether or not to set up a state-run health insurance exchange.
The results are so staggeringly bad they should give anyone looking at this issue without much prior understanding serious reservations about allowing Frankfort politicians to proceed with what will surely be a disaster.
In the report, titled Stakeholder Perspectives on Health Benefit Exchanges, surveys were sent out to 45 groups and individuals the Governor wanted to weigh in on ObamaCare. Of the 45, only 24 responded to any of the questions on the survey. Question number one asked if Kentucky should set up an exchange. Only 18 stakeholders answered that. Fifteen said yes. Most of those stated flatly that they wanted Kentucky to enable ObamaCare in the state by setting up an exchange without giving any reason for their answer. Most disappointing, the Kentucky Association of Manufacturers, which should know better, did elaborate. The KAM stated "Kentucky should operate its own Exchange to keep the governance close to home."
This position represents a fundamental misunderstanding about the structure of ObamaCare. State-run exchanges will only remain state-run at all as long as their actions please the federal government. Also, the Kentucky Farm Bureau apparently answered some of the survey questions, but took a pass on this one. Both KAM and KFB should know better than this.
I don't know what is so hard about issuing a definitive "no" to a concept as bad as this, but at least the NFIB came close.
The results are so staggeringly bad they should give anyone looking at this issue without much prior understanding serious reservations about allowing Frankfort politicians to proceed with what will surely be a disaster.
In the report, titled Stakeholder Perspectives on Health Benefit Exchanges, surveys were sent out to 45 groups and individuals the Governor wanted to weigh in on ObamaCare. Of the 45, only 24 responded to any of the questions on the survey. Question number one asked if Kentucky should set up an exchange. Only 18 stakeholders answered that. Fifteen said yes. Most of those stated flatly that they wanted Kentucky to enable ObamaCare in the state by setting up an exchange without giving any reason for their answer. Most disappointing, the Kentucky Association of Manufacturers, which should know better, did elaborate. The KAM stated "Kentucky should operate its own Exchange to keep the governance close to home."
This position represents a fundamental misunderstanding about the structure of ObamaCare. State-run exchanges will only remain state-run at all as long as their actions please the federal government. Also, the Kentucky Farm Bureau apparently answered some of the survey questions, but took a pass on this one. Both KAM and KFB should know better than this.
The National Federation of Independent Business answered the question in unique fashion:
"Kentucky should hang back and watch the effects of Exchange development in other states. Draw contingencies for a variety of structures, but wait until the last possible moment to choose a path."
I don't know what is so hard about issuing a definitive "no" to a concept as bad as this, but at least the NFIB came close.
Why Kentucky Republicans folded on ObamaCare
A Beshear Administration report released over the weekend contains clear support for setting up an ObamaCare state-run health insurance exchange in Kentucky from such groups as Kentucky Chamber of Commerce and the state's Medical Association, Hospital Association, Optometrists Association, Manufacturers Association and Association of Chiropractors.
These organizations and the politicians they own are far more concerned with power and the massive flow of tax dollars into their preferred pockets than they are with citizens' rights, finances or ability to gain access to medical care.
Refusing to set up a state-run exchange is critical to avoiding the ravages of ObamaCare, even if the individual mandate is found unconstitutional later this month by the U.S. Supreme Court. Other states whose officials claim opposition to ObamaCare while quietly implementing it are starting to get noticed. Let's hope more people lend their voices to shutting down all implementation activities in Kentucky.
A special session of the legislature this summer to get this right is not too much to ask.
Beshear administration officials have been sitting on this report for nearly a year.
These organizations and the politicians they own are far more concerned with power and the massive flow of tax dollars into their preferred pockets than they are with citizens' rights, finances or ability to gain access to medical care.
Refusing to set up a state-run exchange is critical to avoiding the ravages of ObamaCare, even if the individual mandate is found unconstitutional later this month by the U.S. Supreme Court. Other states whose officials claim opposition to ObamaCare while quietly implementing it are starting to get noticed. Let's hope more people lend their voices to shutting down all implementation activities in Kentucky.
A special session of the legislature this summer to get this right is not too much to ask.
Beshear administration officials have been sitting on this report for nearly a year.
Friday, June 08, 2012
Forcing Steve Beshear to fish or cut bait
This afternoon complaints were filed with the Kentucky Insurance Department against two Christian health cost sharing organizations for operating in the state as illegal health insurance companies.
I filed the complaints and wanted to explain to you why.
Governor Steve Beshear is arbitrarily opposing a single Christian health cost sharing organization, Christian Care Medi-Share, for working to protect innocent Kentucky Christians from the ill effects of insurance regulation at the federal and state levels. To be fair, the state lawsuit against Medi-Share was initiated by the Paul Patton Administration in 2002 and the 2010 Kentucky Supreme Court ruling is on very solid ground in its ruling that Medi-Share was functioning in the state in violation of state law.
But that's where the case gets complicated. Medi-Share has not only asserted that the company should not be regulated as insurance, they have continued up to now to provide services and even advertise for new members on Christian radio.
The Beshear Administration had knowledge of Medi-Share's activities then and filed a July 27, 2011 motion for a contempt of court ruling with the Franklin Circuit Court. Since then the state has moved carefully so as not to draw attention to the case, however employees at the Kentucky Department of Insurance continue to tell citizens asking about the program that Medi-Share is not operating legally, implying that it should be avoided.
Meanwhile, other companies operating similarly to Medi-Share have not escaped the Governor's notice but have escaped any legal action.
Two weeks ago, a Department of Insurance spokeswoman told me two other companies -- Samaritan Ministries and Christian Healthcare Ministries -- had been examined and found to not be violating state law as Medi-Share has been, but that further review would be taken to see if they were still operating in accordance with state law. In the two weeks following that conversation, no such review appears to have taken place.
Based on the wording of the law and the opinion of the Supreme Court supporting the law and the state's action, both Samaritan and Christian Healthcare should not be allowed to operate in the state either. More on that here.
By operating quietly and not following up but telling interested callers to avoid Medi-Share, the Beshear is creating a chilling effect on the operations of Christian Care Medi-Share. The motive appears to be to damage the ability of some Kentucky Christians to escape the mandates of insurance regulation at the state and federal levels without attracting much attention to the effort.
And that is why I filed the complaints. Whether ObamaCare survives this month's U.S. Supreme Court ruling or not, consumers' needs to protect themselves against overzealous government regulation of healthcare will likely only grow. Christian health sharing programs such as these present a form of that protection. Forcing them to operate halfway in and out of the shadows serves only to exacerbate the chaos caused by government dictates in our health care decisions.
The Beshear administration and all of state government need to be dragged out in public and forced to explain why they should be able to harass innocent Christians and the service providers trying to help them survive in today's hyper-regulatory environment. When they are, their arbitrary enforcement of state law in this case will surely be found unconstitutional and the arbitrary nature of the entire insurance regulation scheme in Kentucky may be as well.
I filed the complaints and wanted to explain to you why.
Governor Steve Beshear is arbitrarily opposing a single Christian health cost sharing organization, Christian Care Medi-Share, for working to protect innocent Kentucky Christians from the ill effects of insurance regulation at the federal and state levels. To be fair, the state lawsuit against Medi-Share was initiated by the Paul Patton Administration in 2002 and the 2010 Kentucky Supreme Court ruling is on very solid ground in its ruling that Medi-Share was functioning in the state in violation of state law.
But that's where the case gets complicated. Medi-Share has not only asserted that the company should not be regulated as insurance, they have continued up to now to provide services and even advertise for new members on Christian radio.
The Beshear Administration had knowledge of Medi-Share's activities then and filed a July 27, 2011 motion for a contempt of court ruling with the Franklin Circuit Court. Since then the state has moved carefully so as not to draw attention to the case, however employees at the Kentucky Department of Insurance continue to tell citizens asking about the program that Medi-Share is not operating legally, implying that it should be avoided.
Meanwhile, other companies operating similarly to Medi-Share have not escaped the Governor's notice but have escaped any legal action.
Two weeks ago, a Department of Insurance spokeswoman told me two other companies -- Samaritan Ministries and Christian Healthcare Ministries -- had been examined and found to not be violating state law as Medi-Share has been, but that further review would be taken to see if they were still operating in accordance with state law. In the two weeks following that conversation, no such review appears to have taken place.
Based on the wording of the law and the opinion of the Supreme Court supporting the law and the state's action, both Samaritan and Christian Healthcare should not be allowed to operate in the state either. More on that here.
By operating quietly and not following up but telling interested callers to avoid Medi-Share, the Beshear is creating a chilling effect on the operations of Christian Care Medi-Share. The motive appears to be to damage the ability of some Kentucky Christians to escape the mandates of insurance regulation at the state and federal levels without attracting much attention to the effort.
And that is why I filed the complaints. Whether ObamaCare survives this month's U.S. Supreme Court ruling or not, consumers' needs to protect themselves against overzealous government regulation of healthcare will likely only grow. Christian health sharing programs such as these present a form of that protection. Forcing them to operate halfway in and out of the shadows serves only to exacerbate the chaos caused by government dictates in our health care decisions.
The Beshear administration and all of state government need to be dragged out in public and forced to explain why they should be able to harass innocent Christians and the service providers trying to help them survive in today's hyper-regulatory environment. When they are, their arbitrary enforcement of state law in this case will surely be found unconstitutional and the arbitrary nature of the entire insurance regulation scheme in Kentucky may be as well.
Thursday, June 07, 2012
Call Steve Beshear on this, please
Governor Steve Beshear's inaction in his unconstitutional abuse of power episode against Kentucky Christians has reached epic proportions, creating a hostile situation for citizens seeking to escape the mandates of ObamaCare.
Beshear has left consumers in the lurch for nearly a year by refusing to enforce or renounce the court ruling in Commonwealth of Kentucky v. Reinhold. Of course the legislature has been no help either, but it's Beshear's court case.
The Commonwealth of Kentucky won its case against Christian Care Medi-Share, a religious based health cost sharing program, back in August 2010. The ruling, that the program should be regulated as an insurance company, effectively ran Medi-Share out of the state since coming into compliance with existing state insurance laws and regulations would eliminate any purpose for the program.
Medi-Share has continued to operate in Kentucky in violation of the law as have other similar cost sharing programs. Something has to give and it is the Governor's responsibility to see that it does. Beshear doesn't want to get caught attacking Christians before an election and taking away what little health freedom they have left.
But it is clear he wants to attack Christians and take away what little health freedom they have left. Otherwise, he wouldn't leave us all hanging so long waiting for a resolution on this issue. Beshear needs to come clean and either act to allow Christians to work around the already arbitrary and capricious state insurance regulations or admit that he wants the ability to control your health care decisions and doesn't want to hear you complaining about it.
Please call Governor Beshear at 502-564-2611 and tell him to either move to shut Christian Care Medi-Share down or to get out of their way and let them serve the health care needs of Kentucky Christians.
Beshear has left consumers in the lurch for nearly a year by refusing to enforce or renounce the court ruling in Commonwealth of Kentucky v. Reinhold. Of course the legislature has been no help either, but it's Beshear's court case.
The Commonwealth of Kentucky won its case against Christian Care Medi-Share, a religious based health cost sharing program, back in August 2010. The ruling, that the program should be regulated as an insurance company, effectively ran Medi-Share out of the state since coming into compliance with existing state insurance laws and regulations would eliminate any purpose for the program.
Medi-Share has continued to operate in Kentucky in violation of the law as have other similar cost sharing programs. Something has to give and it is the Governor's responsibility to see that it does. Beshear doesn't want to get caught attacking Christians before an election and taking away what little health freedom they have left.
But it is clear he wants to attack Christians and take away what little health freedom they have left. Otherwise, he wouldn't leave us all hanging so long waiting for a resolution on this issue. Beshear needs to come clean and either act to allow Christians to work around the already arbitrary and capricious state insurance regulations or admit that he wants the ability to control your health care decisions and doesn't want to hear you complaining about it.
Please call Governor Beshear at 502-564-2611 and tell him to either move to shut Christian Care Medi-Share down or to get out of their way and let them serve the health care needs of Kentucky Christians.
Certificate of Need: Kentucky's "Big Gulp" ban
Kentucky law requires health care providers to ask permission of Kentucky politicians in order to expand or offer new medical services. Big Medical, which funds powerful Frankfort politicians' campaigns, likes it that way so we get bipartisan nonsensical defenses of this approach, called Certificate of Need, every time someone asks.
We need to keep asking because Big Medical is running away with the game, regardless of what the Supreme Court rules later this month on the mother of all Big Medical bills, ObamaCare.
Every time you see hospitals and medical practices consolidate, you are seeing the end result of this over-regulation. Oh, and the higher prices less competition provides as well.
Essentially under Kentucky law, we are doing something much like Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York is doing to his citizens who like soft drinks. Only with a much higher price tag.
New Yorkers who want a 64 ounce Double Big Gulp of Mountain Dew now go to 7-11 and walk out with one cup. Under Bloomberg's intervention, the same gulper will need to buy four 16 ounce Mountain Dews for the same sugar and caffeine buzz, certainly at a higher price.
Under certificate of need, just as advancing technology could provide us innovations in healthcare in one big "cup," we are being forced out the door juggling four of them to make some politician happy.
If you live in Kentucky and hate the idea of Mayor Bloomberg's nanny state nonsense, please understand that we already have that and worse in Kentucky healthcare because of our certificate of need laws.
It's ironic but telling that Kentucky has been ushering in ObamaCare through its Department of Certificate of Need.
Maybe that has something to do with why Kentucky Republicans have been so squishy on ObamaCare.
We need to keep asking because Big Medical is running away with the game, regardless of what the Supreme Court rules later this month on the mother of all Big Medical bills, ObamaCare.
Every time you see hospitals and medical practices consolidate, you are seeing the end result of this over-regulation. Oh, and the higher prices less competition provides as well.
Essentially under Kentucky law, we are doing something much like Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York is doing to his citizens who like soft drinks. Only with a much higher price tag.
New Yorkers who want a 64 ounce Double Big Gulp of Mountain Dew now go to 7-11 and walk out with one cup. Under Bloomberg's intervention, the same gulper will need to buy four 16 ounce Mountain Dews for the same sugar and caffeine buzz, certainly at a higher price.
Under certificate of need, just as advancing technology could provide us innovations in healthcare in one big "cup," we are being forced out the door juggling four of them to make some politician happy.
If you live in Kentucky and hate the idea of Mayor Bloomberg's nanny state nonsense, please understand that we already have that and worse in Kentucky healthcare because of our certificate of need laws.
It's ironic but telling that Kentucky has been ushering in ObamaCare through its Department of Certificate of Need.
Maybe that has something to do with why Kentucky Republicans have been so squishy on ObamaCare.
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?
Tuesday, June 05, 2012
A different Supreme Court health care case
Lexington attorney Kent Masterson Brown has just now exhausted all other appeals in a lawsuit against the federal government to allow Medicare recipients to opt out of government health insurance, so he is taking his case to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Most people surely don't realize that the federal government has started forcing people to accept Medicare. Don't bother looking for it in federal law; it isn't there.
More about this very soon. Click here for some background on the story.
The case is Brian Hall et al., v. Kathleen Sebelius Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, and Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of the Social Security Administration.
Most people surely don't realize that the federal government has started forcing people to accept Medicare. Don't bother looking for it in federal law; it isn't there.
More about this very soon. Click here for some background on the story.
The case is Brian Hall et al., v. Kathleen Sebelius Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, and Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of the Social Security Administration.
Monday, June 04, 2012
Will Kentucky hire Michael Leavitt?
New Mexico is one of the states with Republican leadership who have drunk the pro-ObamaCare KoolAid claim that states have to go ahead and set up an ObamaCare health insurance exchange or the federal government will come in and do it for them.
News flash: the federal government will control the exchanges even in the states that set them up. The only real flexibility will belong to the states that refuse to play along.
Mitt Romney's chief of staff, Michael Leavitt is a huge ObamaCare profiteer who is convincing Republican state officials even in state's suing to overturn ObamaCare to go ahead and set up ObamaCare.
I can't imagine why anyone with the ability to read the bill and the regulations that go with it would believe that the federal government will allow them to run an exchange in conflict with federal desires. It is a dangerous and false assumption and the Republicans who go along with this are hitting for the wrong team. Don't believe me: read this.
New Mexico just paid Michael Leavitt one million dollars to set up their ObamaCare exchange. Kentucky leaders Steve Beshear, Greg Stumbo and David Williams as well as heads of the Department of Insurance, Cabinet for Health and Family Services and Deparment of Certificate of Need should immediately divulge any communications they have had with Michael Leavitt or any working with his firm Leavitt Partners since the Affordable Care Act became law.
Kentucky has no business playing this very expensive game. It will bankrupt us faster and we are already on the fast track. We must reject this nonsense vigorously, return what federal money we have already received and take immediate action to tie Governor Beshear's hands against the possibility of enacting ObamaCare via an executive order.
The salient point not to be missed is Beshear has been talking for years about moving us to the left on healthcare. After the Supreme Court ruling will be very chaotic regardless of the ruling and we are not ready for that. Too many of our official Republicans are still playing CYA games or worse. It's a luxury we can't afford.
News flash: the federal government will control the exchanges even in the states that set them up. The only real flexibility will belong to the states that refuse to play along.
Mitt Romney's chief of staff, Michael Leavitt is a huge ObamaCare profiteer who is convincing Republican state officials even in state's suing to overturn ObamaCare to go ahead and set up ObamaCare.
I can't imagine why anyone with the ability to read the bill and the regulations that go with it would believe that the federal government will allow them to run an exchange in conflict with federal desires. It is a dangerous and false assumption and the Republicans who go along with this are hitting for the wrong team. Don't believe me: read this.
New Mexico just paid Michael Leavitt one million dollars to set up their ObamaCare exchange. Kentucky leaders Steve Beshear, Greg Stumbo and David Williams as well as heads of the Department of Insurance, Cabinet for Health and Family Services and Deparment of Certificate of Need should immediately divulge any communications they have had with Michael Leavitt or any working with his firm Leavitt Partners since the Affordable Care Act became law.
Kentucky has no business playing this very expensive game. It will bankrupt us faster and we are already on the fast track. We must reject this nonsense vigorously, return what federal money we have already received and take immediate action to tie Governor Beshear's hands against the possibility of enacting ObamaCare via an executive order.
The salient point not to be missed is Beshear has been talking for years about moving us to the left on healthcare. After the Supreme Court ruling will be very chaotic regardless of the ruling and we are not ready for that. Too many of our official Republicans are still playing CYA games or worse. It's a luxury we can't afford.
Friday, June 01, 2012
Obama got your toaster, wants your bread
You may recall last year Illinois Senator Dick Durbin making banking
reforms worse by dictating debit card fees banks can charge
retailers.
While perhaps not noticing the subsequent price-shifting by banks and the
increases
by retailers to make up for the ObamaCard nonsense from 2011, you
need to be warned that the 2012 version promises to be decidedly more
prominent.
Barack
Obama wants your credit cards. Oh, it will be couched in the
now-predictable populist language of Occupy Wall Street vulgarians, but make no
mistake that fixing bank fees on credit cards isn't about sticking it to The Man
or helping you with more affordable bank services.
Any shortage in fees banks experience due to congressional price fixing
deals will only be extracted from consumers' wallets by other means, just like
last time. And the times before that.
So later this summer when you hear Obama stooge Dick Durbin talking about
trimming bankers' sails, please understand that it is you who will be up the
proverbial creek without a paddle.
Please encourage your representatives
to tell Durbin/Obama to stick to throwing little old ladies off cliffs to make the numbers "work" on his
healthcare nonsense and to stop diversifying his efforts by meddling with our
credit cards.
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Is Mitch McConnell a "libatarian" too?
Plans for a 4th district GOP "Unity rally" in Boone County on June 4 have been stymied because former candidate Alecia Webb Edgington is refusing to commit to attending and standing behind Republican nominee Thomas Massie.
All the other candidates, Congressman Geoff Davis, former Senator Jim Bunning, Senator Rand Paul and Senator Mitch McConnell are all on board, but Webb-Edgington has the event on ice, which may have something to do with her animosity for conservatives with a certain libertarian bent.
Webb-Edgington campaigned vigorously against "libatarians" (her pronunciation) throughout the campaign.
All the other candidates, Congressman Geoff Davis, former Senator Jim Bunning, Senator Rand Paul and Senator Mitch McConnell are all on board, but Webb-Edgington has the event on ice, which may have something to do with her animosity for conservatives with a certain libertarian bent.
Webb-Edgington campaigned vigorously against "libatarians" (her pronunciation) throughout the campaign.
Kentucky health freedom through the back door
It was reported here a week ago that Kentucky's Department on Insurance was attempting a crackdown on Christians in Kentucky seeking a religious exemption to ObamaCare.
Something appears to have gone wrong with those grand plans. Special Assistant Attorney General Stephen Taylor won't comment on official attempts to abuse Christians in Kentucky, though he is clearly operating within state law when he does so.
If state bureaucrats pulling the strings on Kentucky's insurance industry can't justify the amount of oversight they have already carved out for themselves now, how in the world are they going to handle challenges to the monumental overreach of ObamaCare?
Something appears to have gone wrong with those grand plans. Special Assistant Attorney General Stephen Taylor won't comment on official attempts to abuse Christians in Kentucky, though he is clearly operating within state law when he does so.
If state bureaucrats pulling the strings on Kentucky's insurance industry can't justify the amount of oversight they have already carved out for themselves now, how in the world are they going to handle challenges to the monumental overreach of ObamaCare?
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Shut down Kentucky Dept of Insurance
A 2010 Kentucky Supreme Court ruling could be used to end the error of government regulation of private health care transactions and usher in freedoms many have forgotten ever existed.
Commonwealth of Kentucky v. Reinhold states that Kentucky can regulate anything that it finds to be "insurance." The Court further rules that agreements to shift risk constitute insurance. Taken literally, this could be applied to any interpersonal interaction. We shift risks between family members, neighbors, even strangers every day. Is a Boy Scout helping a little old lady across the street now her insurance company? Under the letter of the law, yes he is.
I hope this sounds as absurd to you as it does to me. The Commonwealth is using KRS 304.1-030, enacted in 1970, to arbitrarily limit healthcare options available to Kentuckians even under ObamaCare. Rather than suffer continued confusion under such unreasonable and capricious laws, we should instead repeal all statutes seeking to regulate insurance. Market competition is a much more efficient regulator than government decree anyway, and civil courts are available for dispute resolution at much less cost than big government.
It's completely understandable if you have to let this idea roll around in your head a while before taking action on it. We just need a few people willing to really fight for healthcare freedom in order to swing it back in our direction. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to call me at 859-537-5372.
Commonwealth of Kentucky v. Reinhold states that Kentucky can regulate anything that it finds to be "insurance." The Court further rules that agreements to shift risk constitute insurance. Taken literally, this could be applied to any interpersonal interaction. We shift risks between family members, neighbors, even strangers every day. Is a Boy Scout helping a little old lady across the street now her insurance company? Under the letter of the law, yes he is.
I hope this sounds as absurd to you as it does to me. The Commonwealth is using KRS 304.1-030, enacted in 1970, to arbitrarily limit healthcare options available to Kentuckians even under ObamaCare. Rather than suffer continued confusion under such unreasonable and capricious laws, we should instead repeal all statutes seeking to regulate insurance. Market competition is a much more efficient regulator than government decree anyway, and civil courts are available for dispute resolution at much less cost than big government.
It's completely understandable if you have to let this idea roll around in your head a while before taking action on it. We just need a few people willing to really fight for healthcare freedom in order to swing it back in our direction. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to call me at 859-537-5372.
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
It's your baby: free market works in Kentucky
In Kentucky, only one individual health insurer covers maternity care. A 22 year old woman seeking health insurance with maternity coverage must pay premiums through a 12 month waiting period. The cost of this rider on an Anthem $2500 deductible plan with 0% coinsurance is $51.37 a month.
That's $1078.77 in premium for 12 months waiting period plus nine months gestation. Add on the $2500 deductible and you are over the market price Lexington OB/GYNs charge to deliver your baby.
It's clearly cheaper to skip maternity coverage and negotiate a cash price with your doctor.
Incidentally, I called Dr. Blake Bradley in Lexington today. He delivered my fifteen year old son for a $2000 fee we negotiated at the beginning of my wife's pregnancy. His current price is slightly more than $2100.
Under ObamaCare, this free market success story will be a thing of the past. And if Governor Beshear intends to leave the free market intact in the event of a Supreme Court ruling against ObamaCare, he needs to make that clear right away. Otherwise, it certainly looks like he wants to push us to the left on healthcare regardless of what the Supremes say.
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Kentucky healthcare reign of terror to expand
Governor Steve Beshear's insurance officials in Frankfort are preparing to expand discrimination against Christian health cost sharing programs that are actually exempt from ObamaCare.
The Kentucky Department of Insurance, already pursuing a contempt of court ruling against Christian Care Medi-Share, will widen its regulatory scope tomorrow to include sharing organizations Samaritan Ministries and Christian Healthcare Ministries.
A 2010 Kentucky Supreme Court split decision (Commonwealth of Kentucky v. Reinhold) against Christian Care Medi-Share will be used to shut down Samaritan and Christian Healthcare.
Kentuckians participating in these sharing programs or any others should contact their representatives and demand that state government leave this small corner of freedom in the health care marketplace alone. And since this applies directly to only a small number of Kentuckians, anyone who believes in freedom and opposes government tyranny in all forms should join them.
The Kentucky Department of Insurance, already pursuing a contempt of court ruling against Christian Care Medi-Share, will widen its regulatory scope tomorrow to include sharing organizations Samaritan Ministries and Christian Healthcare Ministries.
A 2010 Kentucky Supreme Court split decision (Commonwealth of Kentucky v. Reinhold) against Christian Care Medi-Share will be used to shut down Samaritan and Christian Healthcare.
Kentuckians participating in these sharing programs or any others should contact their representatives and demand that state government leave this small corner of freedom in the health care marketplace alone. And since this applies directly to only a small number of Kentuckians, anyone who believes in freedom and opposes government tyranny in all forms should join them.
Next up in Kentucky: Craig Astor
Congressman Brett Guthrie has supported raising the debt ceiling, oppressive government and bad Republican candidates in primaries against tea partiers.
Just got this notice on my Facebook page:
Anyone know who Craig Astor is? It's just about time to find out.
Just got this notice on my Facebook page:
Anyone know who Craig Astor is? It's just about time to find out.
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Tea party should stop government broadband
The full U.S. Senate will be taking up the 2012 Farm Bill soon. When they do, Senator Rand Paul would do well to push for defunding the Rural Utilities Service Broadband Loan Program to get government out of the way and lower the cost of internet for consumers.
Kentucky has more municipal broadband projects than any other state on a per capita basis. In fact, only Washington state's twelve projects exceeds Kentucky's eight, but on a larger population.
A 2010 Reason Foundation report found that Kentucky had the tenth most competitive broadband market in the nation. Government involvement has been promoted as necessary to provide services in rural areas, but that line has been thoroughly debunked.
A group of government watchdog groups this week urged trimming back the federal loan program, but I think we all expect Senator Paul to not stop at half-measures, nor can our state afford them.
Kentucky has more municipal broadband projects than any other state on a per capita basis. In fact, only Washington state's twelve projects exceeds Kentucky's eight, but on a larger population.
A 2010 Reason Foundation report found that Kentucky had the tenth most competitive broadband market in the nation. Government involvement has been promoted as necessary to provide services in rural areas, but that line has been thoroughly debunked.
A group of government watchdog groups this week urged trimming back the federal loan program, but I think we all expect Senator Paul to not stop at half-measures, nor can our state afford them.
Is David Williams done in 2014?
A quiet election in terms of statewide notice, yesterday's 15th Senate district race could have larger implications including the ouster of Senate President David Williams not just from leadership, but from office altogether in the middle of Gov. Steve Beshear's second term.
The race featured Chris Girdler, a Hal Rogers-backed establishment candidate who spent around $200,000 to win the primary. His three tea party opponents, Mark Polston, Todd Hoskins and AC Donahue combined to spend only a small fraction of that total.
Hoskins, the only Casey Countian in the race, dropped out late and endorsed Polston. He stayed on the ballot, though, and pulled 2% of the vote though he clearly was able to transfer much of his support to Polston.
Donahue refused to fall in behind Polston and held tough to draw 7.3% of the vote. Given Polston's 9.63% loss to Girdler, it's hard not to conclude that a united insurgent effort all along may well have been successful.
Conservatives ought to resist the temptation, though, to praise Hoskins and criticize Donahue. Both were outstanding candidates and both should be encouraged to stay heavily involved. The hollowness of moral victories aside, the quality of these candidates speaks well for the movement in a more rural part of the state. It's almost all good news and portends growth in the future.
Girdler, 32, will be very interesting to watch in the Senate. Protecting his right flank will be important as tea party strength continues to grow but he also has to be wary of a challenge from the left. Senate President David Williams tried to take Pulaski and Russell counties in redistricting and started showing signs of moving to Somerset. He clearly has Girdler in his sights.
Girdler supporters executed a fairly successful whisper campaign claiming that David Williams supported Polston in this race so that he could take Pulaski and Russell in 2013 redistricting and run against Polston in 2014.
If Girdler moves to embrace and be embraced by the tea party quickly, the pieces may fall into place for squeezing Williams out of the Senate in 2014.
The race featured Chris Girdler, a Hal Rogers-backed establishment candidate who spent around $200,000 to win the primary. His three tea party opponents, Mark Polston, Todd Hoskins and AC Donahue combined to spend only a small fraction of that total.
Hoskins, the only Casey Countian in the race, dropped out late and endorsed Polston. He stayed on the ballot, though, and pulled 2% of the vote though he clearly was able to transfer much of his support to Polston.
Donahue refused to fall in behind Polston and held tough to draw 7.3% of the vote. Given Polston's 9.63% loss to Girdler, it's hard not to conclude that a united insurgent effort all along may well have been successful.
Conservatives ought to resist the temptation, though, to praise Hoskins and criticize Donahue. Both were outstanding candidates and both should be encouraged to stay heavily involved. The hollowness of moral victories aside, the quality of these candidates speaks well for the movement in a more rural part of the state. It's almost all good news and portends growth in the future.
Girdler, 32, will be very interesting to watch in the Senate. Protecting his right flank will be important as tea party strength continues to grow but he also has to be wary of a challenge from the left. Senate President David Williams tried to take Pulaski and Russell counties in redistricting and started showing signs of moving to Somerset. He clearly has Girdler in his sights.
Girdler supporters executed a fairly successful whisper campaign claiming that David Williams supported Polston in this race so that he could take Pulaski and Russell in 2013 redistricting and run against Polston in 2014.
If Girdler moves to embrace and be embraced by the tea party quickly, the pieces may fall into place for squeezing Williams out of the Senate in 2014.
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Obama still targeting Tea Party
I use a web site called StatCounter that allows me to see where my traffic on this site is coming from. Sometimes this provides interesting information.
Just got this one:
If you can't tell, someone at the Internal Revenue Service wound up here after doing a Google search for "Kentucky tea party candidates." Sure would be interesting to know how they might justify doing that.
It's hard to view this as anything other than an improper use of federal power.
Just got this one:
If you can't tell, someone at the Internal Revenue Service wound up here after doing a Google search for "Kentucky tea party candidates." Sure would be interesting to know how they might justify doing that.
It's hard to view this as anything other than an improper use of federal power.
Sure fix for ObamaCare in Kentucky
The federal Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare) explicitly grandfathers in religious based health care cost sharing programs and allows people to use them to pay for their medical expenses while everyone else is forced into government-run payment vehicles.
Kentucky is unique among states in its dogged determination to deny its citizens this last freedom. This is an old fight, but it is time we got everyone engaged.
The last legislative session would have been a perfect opportunity to restore this freedom to Kentuckians.
Please "like" this post and share it with any Kentucky Christians you know who are concerned about ObamaCare. This is so important we should demand Governor Beshear call the legislature into special session in June to pass a law specifically permitting religious-based medical cost sharing programs to operate without government interference in Kentucky. It is our most realistic defense against ObamaCare, it would present a cost-savings for Kentuckians while allowing a desperately needed free-market solution.
Christian Care Medishare has operated very successfully in the state for years. Spreading their success would benefit Kentuckians financially and by teaching a much needed lesson in free markets.
Please alert your legislators to this critical issue.
Kentucky is unique among states in its dogged determination to deny its citizens this last freedom. This is an old fight, but it is time we got everyone engaged.
The last legislative session would have been a perfect opportunity to restore this freedom to Kentuckians.
Please "like" this post and share it with any Kentucky Christians you know who are concerned about ObamaCare. This is so important we should demand Governor Beshear call the legislature into special session in June to pass a law specifically permitting religious-based medical cost sharing programs to operate without government interference in Kentucky. It is our most realistic defense against ObamaCare, it would present a cost-savings for Kentuckians while allowing a desperately needed free-market solution.
Christian Care Medishare has operated very successfully in the state for years. Spreading their success would benefit Kentuckians financially and by teaching a much needed lesson in free markets.
Please alert your legislators to this critical issue.
Monday, May 21, 2012
David Givens' opponent cites Enron-style scheme
Kentucky state Senator David Givens continued to use his office to benefit himself financially by operating a questionable "agriculture" business until the state quietly shut it down last September, Republican state Senate candidate Don Butler said.
Givens showed income from Green River Cattle Company on his Legislative Ethics reports through 2010. Givens has also come under fire in his re-election bid for claiming falsely to have never voted to raise taxes.
Senator Givens is Co-Chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee. The name of Givens' company, of which he was described alternately as an officer or owner, was Green River Cattle Company.
"It is tough to track it all down but after taking some hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars and producing nothing, Green River Cattle Company looks like the Enron of Kentucky agriculture," Butler said. "It wasn't much of a company, there were no cattle, no river and the only green was the taxpayer money going into David Givens' pocket."
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Real health reform road show starts Monday
Two weeks ago, the Beshear administration tried to sneak a bogus "public" hearing on ObamaCare past the people of Kentucky.
It failed.
Monday night, May 21st, a different kind of public hearing will be held. Please join a public discussion at the Jeffersontown Public Library at 10635 Watterson Trail in Louisville.
We will talk about what the Beshear administration is doing to us, how it is more important to fight the battle on the state level than to wait for a favorable U.S. Supreme Court ruling next month. We will talk about what you can do to help protect the state from another brush with socialized medicine and why Frankfort Republicans are fighting for the wrong team.
We will talk about real free market solutions. Hope to see you there.
It failed.
Monday night, May 21st, a different kind of public hearing will be held. Please join a public discussion at the Jeffersontown Public Library at 10635 Watterson Trail in Louisville.
We will talk about what the Beshear administration is doing to us, how it is more important to fight the battle on the state level than to wait for a favorable U.S. Supreme Court ruling next month. We will talk about what you can do to help protect the state from another brush with socialized medicine and why Frankfort Republicans are fighting for the wrong team.
We will talk about real free market solutions. Hope to see you there.
Friday, May 18, 2012
Republican Party of Kentucky attacks conservative
On Thursday afternoon, a recorded telephone call from Republican Party of Kentucky headquarters defended incumbent moderate Senator David Givens for his bad votes on taxes, spending and healthcare. The call urged Republicans to ignore criticism of Givens' record and to re-elect him anyway.
Givens faces conservative Tea Party Republican challenger Don Butler in the primary election on Tuesday, May 22.
Republican Party of Kentucky Chairman Steve Robertson said the call went out to approximately 2000 voters in the 9th Senate district, according to a local party official.
The call in support of Givens represents a new low for the Republican Party of Kentucky, which continues to unnecessarily prolong the battle between establishment moderates and conservative Tea Partiers.
Givens faces conservative Tea Party Republican challenger Don Butler in the primary election on Tuesday, May 22.
Republican Party of Kentucky Chairman Steve Robertson said the call went out to approximately 2000 voters in the 9th Senate district, according to a local party official.
The call in support of Givens represents a new low for the Republican Party of Kentucky, which continues to unnecessarily prolong the battle between establishment moderates and conservative Tea Partiers.
Chris Christie shows Republicans how to sell out
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie will be in Lexington on Saturday to address Kentucky Republicans. He will surely talk about his May 10 veto of a bill to set up an ObamaCare health insurance exchange in his state.
What he won't tell us is that his veto was just for show and that he was already -- and still is -- setting his state on the path to socialized medicine.
As always, the trick is to follow the money.
Governor Christie applied for and received a $7.6 million Affordable Care Act Establishment grant and is spending it readying his state for ObamaCare. The law explicitly allows states to forgo this activity and, in fact, returning the federal money forcing the federal government to set up the exchange is the only way to go.
Like several other Republicans, Christie appears to have fallen for the idea that a state-run exchange is either required or somehow allows states to maintain a form of local control.
Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear has expressed the same position. Both the Heritage Foundation and the Cato Institute have urged states to return Establishment grant money as the surest way out of ObamaCare's clutches.
Why this message hasn't gotten more traction would be a real mystery if politicians in both parties had not so clearly displayed their addiction to federal money, with or without strings attached.
And make no mistake, the strings attached to the federal money already accepted by many states will become very heavy ropes before 2015 when states will be responsible for all the costs of exchanges regardless of who is "running" them.
At best the states are being set up as scapegoats for when ObamaCare fares poorly. Worse, opponents banking on a favorable Supreme Court ruling will be surprised at how much of ObamaCare will survive in states that have cooperated and have accepted federal money.
States like New Jersey and Kentucky.
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Funniest Kentucky political ad ever
Tea Party Republican Don Butler is running a radio ad against his incumbent opponent David Givens that has people talking down around Glasgow, Kentucky. Click the link below to listen to it.
Monday, May 14, 2012
David Givens suffers 40-point ObamaCare swoon
Powerful incumbent Senate Republican David Givens, chairman of the Senate Agriculture committee, was cruising to a 20-point win two weeks ago. In the past week, though, Givens got skewered by the Kentucky Club for Growth for raising taxes and then lying about it in a newspaper ad.
Also last week, his opponent, Tea Party Republican Don Butler, started running a radio ad pointing out Givens' support of ObamaCare in the state legislature.
Now two different sources who have polled the race tell Kentucky Progress that Givens is losing by twenty. And Butler reportedly has an even harder-hitting ad in the can for the final week.
If you haven't already joined the movement to stop Frankfort's quiet effort to implement ObamaCare, please do so now.
Also last week, his opponent, Tea Party Republican Don Butler, started running a radio ad pointing out Givens' support of ObamaCare in the state legislature.
Now two different sources who have polled the race tell Kentucky Progress that Givens is losing by twenty. And Butler reportedly has an even harder-hitting ad in the can for the final week.
If you haven't already joined the movement to stop Frankfort's quiet effort to implement ObamaCare, please do so now.
Friday, May 11, 2012
Is Steve Beshear lying or just lazy and stupid?
Last week when Governor Steve Beshear came clean about quietly setting up ObamaCare in Kentucky he repeated a canard that apparently still needs to be debunked. Beshear wants you to believe that if Kentucky sets up its own ObamaCare health insurance exchange, that we will maintain some kind of local control.
Setting up a state-run exchange, Beshear said, "also guarantees we don't have the federal government running our insurance market."
But page 8 of a federal Health and Human Services ObamaCare document summarizing the law on Kentucky's Department of Insurance web site clearly explains that if the HHS Secretary isn't happy with the state's activities, then the feds can step in and take control.
There are lots of myths, distortions and outright lies surrounding the ObamaCare mess. It would be great if more of Kentucky's Republican officials got on board with the effort to fight this nonsense back. Those sitting on the sidelines now are just going to look sillier and sillier as this goes along.
Setting up a state-run exchange, Beshear said, "also guarantees we don't have the federal government running our insurance market."
But page 8 of a federal Health and Human Services ObamaCare document summarizing the law on Kentucky's Department of Insurance web site clearly explains that if the HHS Secretary isn't happy with the state's activities, then the feds can step in and take control.
There are lots of myths, distortions and outright lies surrounding the ObamaCare mess. It would be great if more of Kentucky's Republican officials got on board with the effort to fight this nonsense back. Those sitting on the sidelines now are just going to look sillier and sillier as this goes along.
KY Club for Growth blasts David Givens
The Kentucky Club for Growth today ruled a campaign ad for incumbent state Senator David Givens "blatantly false" just as Givens prepares to face tea party challenger Don Butler in the May 22 Republican primary.
The Club's statement mentioned and linked to a post from Kentucky Progress.
Club Executive Director Andy Hightower concludes his dressing down of Givens by referring to Givens' advertising claim that he supports "open and honest government."
The Club's statement mentioned and linked to a post from Kentucky Progress.
During Sen. Givens four years in the Senate, there has really only been one significant tax increase brought to the Senate floor - 2009's HB 144, a $160 million annual tax increase. While Thayer and eleven other Senators opposed it, Sen. Givens voted for it. HB 144 increased tobacco taxes and created a new tax on alcohol, double-taxing the industry and giving Kentucky one of the highest alcohol taxes in the country! (Don't try to argue that 'families' are unaffected by these taxes. Families throughout the Commonwealth are involved in growing, producing, distributing, retailing and consuming these products.)
Additionally that year, Givens voted to create a tax on "Internet Protocol Television (HB 236), create new taxes on digital property (HB 347) and hike the gas tax by $0.04 (HB 374).
Club Executive Director Andy Hightower concludes his dressing down of Givens by referring to Givens' advertising claim that he supports "open and honest government."
This probably also puts to lie his claim of 'Honest Government.'
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Bob Damron, closet ObamaCare supporter
Less than two weeks after Kentucky House Democratic Caucus Chairman Bob Damron lied to voters through the Campaign for Liberty survey about his position on ObamaCare, he has now publicly stated his support for Obama's federal healthcare takeover.
On his Facebook page, Damron expressed support for keeping the more than $60 million in federal grant money we have received so far, which obligates Kentucky to set up an ObamaCare bureaucracy in state government. He has since removed that post from his page, though this image was captured:
A self-styled pro-business conservative, Damron should have to explain how his sneakiness and prevarication on this issue squares with his desire to be re-elected to represent increasingly-conservative Jessamine County.
In the November election, Damron faces Republican Matt Lockett, who has consistently opposed ObamaCare and supports forcing state government to return the federal ObamaCare money.
On his Facebook page, Damron expressed support for keeping the more than $60 million in federal grant money we have received so far, which obligates Kentucky to set up an ObamaCare bureaucracy in state government. He has since removed that post from his page, though this image was captured:
A self-styled pro-business conservative, Damron should have to explain how his sneakiness and prevarication on this issue squares with his desire to be re-elected to represent increasingly-conservative Jessamine County.
In the November election, Damron faces Republican Matt Lockett, who has consistently opposed ObamaCare and supports forcing state government to return the federal ObamaCare money.
Wednesday, May 09, 2012
Did you see this establishment scam?
An unidentified Washington D.C. organization has mailed to Kentucky very conservative-looking flyers touting establishment candidates who have refused to be pinned down specifically on key issues. I'm not nearly as concerned about any possible campaign finance violation (mailing organizations should identify identify themselves) as I am curious to know why the secrecy was thought to be necessary.
Slippery establishment types posing as rock-ribbed conservatives have damaged the Republican brand enough. If you have seen a mailer like this touting your local establishment politician, please let me know.
Slippery establishment types posing as rock-ribbed conservatives have damaged the Republican brand enough. If you have seen a mailer like this touting your local establishment politician, please let me know.
Where are our Republicans on BeshearCare?
The most striking aspect of Kentucky's self-destructive dalliance with ObamaCare is the silence of the state's Republicans.
Are we so addicted to federal grant money (more than $60 million so far for health "reform," and counting) that even our elected Republicans can't see the strings attached?
Talk to your Republican officeholders at the state and federal levels about this. With very little effort, Senators Rand Paul and Mitch McConnell could capture the attention of the overwhelming majority of Kentucky voters who oppose ObamaCare. It will take that to force corrective action out of Governor Beshear and the lethargic Republican leadership in the state Senate.
All of our U.S. House members but Reps. John Yarmuth and Ben Chandler should be eager to come to our aid, as should the small army of Republican candidates running in the May elections.
Where are these people, now that we need them?
Are we so addicted to federal grant money (more than $60 million so far for health "reform," and counting) that even our elected Republicans can't see the strings attached?
Talk to your Republican officeholders at the state and federal levels about this. With very little effort, Senators Rand Paul and Mitch McConnell could capture the attention of the overwhelming majority of Kentucky voters who oppose ObamaCare. It will take that to force corrective action out of Governor Beshear and the lethargic Republican leadership in the state Senate.
All of our U.S. House members but Reps. John Yarmuth and Ben Chandler should be eager to come to our aid, as should the small army of Republican candidates running in the May elections.
Where are these people, now that we need them?
Tuesday, May 08, 2012
Frankfort incumbent senator's ad tells the tale
Kentucky state Senator David Givens has voted to raise your taxes repeatedly in Frankfort. But in a newspaper ad he purchased for his re-election, he says he "consistently opposes tax increases." That's like Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, who said he was personally opposed to abortion but voted for it anyway.
Then Givens said he is for open and honest government. He is probably talking there about his vote for Senate Bill 7 in 2011, a toothless "transparency" bill that hasn't changed anything in closed, secretive Frankfort. Voters may well conclude he "believes taxpayers deserve to know how their money is being spent," but only until they read and understand the next bullet point in the newspaper ad.
Givens' biggest whopper in the ad is his claim that he "has voted to cut billions in government spending." That only works if you can ignore the many billion more in spending that he voted for regardless of our state's ability to afford it. Givens voted to spend every dime of the $3.4 billion in Obama stimulus funds the federal government sent, the $2.4 billion in general fund appropriation-supported debt he voted for and the untold billions more in unfunded pension liabilities he will helped create by failing to properly fund the Kentucky Retirement Systems. Given these facts, the the slogan "A true conservative we can count on to protect our liberty" really doesn't make much sense, does it? David Givens had four years to come up with a better ad, but his sorry record dictates that he try to get by on subterfuge and slippery language.
Fortunately, Givens is opposed in the Republican primary by tea party candidate Don Butler, the former county judge in Metcalfe County. Butler has campaigned on a pledge to never vote for a tax increase, to never vote for an unbalanced budget and to refuse a legislative pension. Notice the difference between that and just stating that he opposes tax increases, debt and unbalanced budgets and our state's pension mess?
Steve Beshear saw his shadow yesterday
Governor Steve Beshear yesterday called a halt to what was to be a series of open-to-the-public meetings on ObamaCare implementation in Kentucky. This came quickly after a team of his bureaucrats met substantial public resistance at a Frankfort meeting to discuss ObamaCare.
The Tea Party needs to step up and have them for him. Across the state and as soon as possible, we need to have citizen-run ObamaCare public hearings at which we seek to answer the following questions:
1- Do Kentucky citizens want ObamaCare or to participate in the excessively expensive federally controlled state-run exchanges when the law clearly makes participation optional? Why or why not?
2- Should Governor Beshear return the more than $60 million in federal grants for setting up a health insurance exchange?
3- Which legislators will demand that Governor send the money back? Do we need a special session of the General Assembly to address this issue?
4- What real solutions do we want to problems in the health care industry?
Setting up a public event is easy. Public libraries and schools have meeting rooms that can be used with little or no cost. A sponsoring organization is sometimes necessary and may be a good idea anyway. Teaming up with local civic groups can help spread the word about an event.
Lots of help is available if you are willing to get the ball rolling. Just ask.
The Tea Party needs to step up and have them for him. Across the state and as soon as possible, we need to have citizen-run ObamaCare public hearings at which we seek to answer the following questions:
1- Do Kentucky citizens want ObamaCare or to participate in the excessively expensive federally controlled state-run exchanges when the law clearly makes participation optional? Why or why not?
2- Should Governor Beshear return the more than $60 million in federal grants for setting up a health insurance exchange?
3- Which legislators will demand that Governor send the money back? Do we need a special session of the General Assembly to address this issue?
4- What real solutions do we want to problems in the health care industry?
Setting up a public event is easy. Public libraries and schools have meeting rooms that can be used with little or no cost. A sponsoring organization is sometimes necessary and may be a good idea anyway. Teaming up with local civic groups can help spread the word about an event.
Lots of help is available if you are willing to get the ball rolling. Just ask.
Monday, May 07, 2012
Tea Party resurgence in Kentucky
The Tea Party came to prominence in the wake of ObamaCare, the federal takeover of American healthcare starting in 2009. State implementation of the federal law stirred up the movement again today.
It all started last week when a Kentucky ObamaCare official, Kris Hayslett quietly scheduled an auditorium in the state Transportation Cabinet building for a "public" meeting discussing state activity in setting up a health insurance exchange in the state.
A tea party activist uncovered the event and noted the almost eery lack of publicity behind it. With barely 72 hours notice, a Facebook event page was established. By Monday at 1pm, more than 100 tea partiers joined about three dozen state employees, contractors and lobbyists for what became a two hour long wake-up call for anyone who thought there would be no public resistance to socialized medicine.
"Unbelievable," said Candice Franklin of Lincoln County. "No one in Frankfort can answer where the money will come from to pay for this free stuff for everybody."
Kathy Linzy of Anderson County enjoyed watching the bureaucratic panel's shell-shocked reaction to public opposition to their scheme.
"Clearly their eyes were glazing over when the folks at the mic asked questions," Linzy said. "The panel did say these were not the questions they were looking for. What they were looking for was info and ideas on how to implement the health care exchange."
Kentucky has already accepted more federal money to establish a state run health insurance exchange than any other state but New York. Last week, Governor Steve Beshear claimed that he had no choice but to prepare to set up a state run exchange should the U.S. Supreme Court find the law constitutional. The panel today repeated his claim, despite the fact that the law clearly says it is optional.
Further, common sense says that not getting the state involved in this nonsense is the cheaper way to go.
"This is the camel's nose, head and three-fourths of its body already in the tent," said Dan Blanchard of Jefferson County. "If centralized government imposes its will on us here, it sets all the precedent they need to go after any vestige of liberty in any other areas we have left. This is not about affordable health care. It's about a pseudo-intelligent elite trying to control 'We the People.'"
The strong showing of tea partiers clearly frustrated the bureaucrats, but left conservatives wondering what would come next.
"Other than a show of force, I wonder if we accomplished much," said Ann Prothro of Woodford County. "I found them very parental, patronizing. It felt like they thought we were all talking in study hall."
Indeed, what comes next is critical. A single, simple demand is necessary. Conservatives and tea partiers should call Governor Beshear and demand that he return the $60 million in federal grant money Kentucky has received to implement an ObamaCare. His number is (502)564-2611. Further, please call your state Senator and Representative and demand that they publicly call on Beshear to send the money back and discontinue all efforts to create an ObamaCare health insurance exchange in Kentucky.
It all started last week when a Kentucky ObamaCare official, Kris Hayslett quietly scheduled an auditorium in the state Transportation Cabinet building for a "public" meeting discussing state activity in setting up a health insurance exchange in the state.
A tea party activist uncovered the event and noted the almost eery lack of publicity behind it. With barely 72 hours notice, a Facebook event page was established. By Monday at 1pm, more than 100 tea partiers joined about three dozen state employees, contractors and lobbyists for what became a two hour long wake-up call for anyone who thought there would be no public resistance to socialized medicine.
"Unbelievable," said Candice Franklin of Lincoln County. "No one in Frankfort can answer where the money will come from to pay for this free stuff for everybody."
Kathy Linzy of Anderson County enjoyed watching the bureaucratic panel's shell-shocked reaction to public opposition to their scheme.
"Clearly their eyes were glazing over when the folks at the mic asked questions," Linzy said. "The panel did say these were not the questions they were looking for. What they were looking for was info and ideas on how to implement the health care exchange."
Kentucky has already accepted more federal money to establish a state run health insurance exchange than any other state but New York. Last week, Governor Steve Beshear claimed that he had no choice but to prepare to set up a state run exchange should the U.S. Supreme Court find the law constitutional. The panel today repeated his claim, despite the fact that the law clearly says it is optional.
Further, common sense says that not getting the state involved in this nonsense is the cheaper way to go.
"This is the camel's nose, head and three-fourths of its body already in the tent," said Dan Blanchard of Jefferson County. "If centralized government imposes its will on us here, it sets all the precedent they need to go after any vestige of liberty in any other areas we have left. This is not about affordable health care. It's about a pseudo-intelligent elite trying to control 'We the People.'"
The strong showing of tea partiers clearly frustrated the bureaucrats, but left conservatives wondering what would come next.
"Other than a show of force, I wonder if we accomplished much," said Ann Prothro of Woodford County. "I found them very parental, patronizing. It felt like they thought we were all talking in study hall."
Indeed, what comes next is critical. A single, simple demand is necessary. Conservatives and tea partiers should call Governor Beshear and demand that he return the $60 million in federal grant money Kentucky has received to implement an ObamaCare. His number is (502)564-2611. Further, please call your state Senator and Representative and demand that they publicly call on Beshear to send the money back and discontinue all efforts to create an ObamaCare health insurance exchange in Kentucky.
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