Suing for health freedom in Kentucky

COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY

FRANKLIN CIRCUIT COURT

DIVISION ___

CASE NO. 13-CI-__________

 

DAVID ADAMS                                                                                           PLAINTIFF

 

v.                                                         COMPLAINT

 

COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY                                                   DEFENDANTS

OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR, Steven L. Beshear

OFFICE OF THE COMMISSIONER, DEPARTMENT OF INSURANCE,

Sharon P. Clark

Serve: Governor Steven L. Beshear

Office of the Governor

700 Capitol Avenue, Suite 100

Frankfort KY 40601

 

Serve: Commissioner Sharon P. Clark

Department of Insurance

215 W. Main

Frankfort KY 40601

Serve: Attorney General Jack Conway

Office of the Attorney General

700 Capitol Avenue, Suite 118

Frankfort KY 40601

___________________________________________________________________________

 

Plaintiff, David Adams, respectfully states as follows:

 

NATURE OF ACTION

This is a civil action for declaratory and injunctive relief relating to KRS 304.1-120(7), a statute regulating health insurance in the Commonwealth. Plaintiff seeks a declaration that this statute is unconstitutional in that it violates Sections 2 and 190 of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Further, Plaintiff seeks a court order forbidding Defendants from enforcing the statute’s arbitrary provisions which limit Plaintiff’s clear understanding of rights under an agreement with a private corporation regulated by KRS 304.1-120(7). Attorney General Jack Conway is being served with a copy of this Complaint pursuant to KRS.418.075 in as much as the constitutionality of KRS. 304.1-120(7) is brought into question.

 

FACTS

Plaintiff is a citizen of the Commonwealth and a member of Samaritan Ministries, a religious health sharing organization purportedly exempted from state insurance regulation by KRS 304.1-120(7) and from federal mandates under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) in Section 1501 of that law under the heading “Health Care Sharing Ministry.”

The federal PPACA law, in an attempt to expand healthcare coverage choices for Americans, makes few unnecessary restrictions on the ongoing operations of such health sharing groups. Kentucky law, however, declares these entities must have “no assumption of risk or promise to pay either among the participants or between the participants and the organization.”

These restrictions defeat the purpose of the health sharing organizations, which exist to limit personal liability for healthcare expenses by sharing mutual assumptions of risk and multiple payment agreements involving explicit promises to pay. Enforcement of state law in regard to this type of entity and arrangement has been haphazard and reckless, substantially depriving consumers fleeing government regulated insurance of a rational basis upon which to make risk management decisions and perpetuating an arbitrary and capricious application of state law in violation of the Section 2 prohibition of “absolute and arbitrary power” and the Section 190 limit on state regulation of corporations to “general laws” only.

Time is of the essence in resolving this issue because the PPACA is set to take full effect on January 1, 2014 with substantial premium increases in government-regulated health insurance and very limited alternatives such as religious health sharing for Kentucky consumers generally and Plaintiff specifically to properly manage healthcare costs. Lack of clarity in the application of the law is both expensive and needlessly hazardous.

ARGUMENT

Existing statute and case law combine to wreak havoc on the market for health coverage in the United States and in Kentucky. If followed to the letter, state law would eliminate the alternative of religious health sharing organizations in the Commonwealth, despite efforts on the federal and state level to preserve such alternatives for the benefits they provide to the health and welfare of their members, and the safety valve they form for consumers who would otherwise be trapped in the government-created and controlled system as it fails increasingly large segments of the population.

Plaintiff merely seeks clarity from government officials where precious little currently exists. The only way to achieve that is with a court ruling that KRS 304.1-120(7) unconstitutionally singles out and inhibits religious health sharing groups and their members from protecting themselves efficiently against the risk of large medical expenses. Such is certainly not within the bounds of any kind of public purpose envisioned by the legislature as the people’s representatives and therefore calls for swift action from the Court.

JURISDICTION

Jurisdiction is proper pursuant to KRS 418.040 and Kentucky Constitution Section 112 (5).

PRAYER FOR RELIEF

            Plaintiff seeks a Court ruling that KRS 304.1-120(7) is unconstitutional in that it effectively prohibits the existence of Plaintiff’s chosen health care coverage provider whose operation is both legal under federal law and has been found constitutional by the United States Supreme Court. Legislative action in the 2013 General Assembly (Senate Bill 3) in conjunction with a July 23, 2013 order from this court sought to clarify availability of religious health sharing options but did not address the statute’s constitutional infirmities. Such is the purpose of this action.

 

Respectfully submitted,


David Adams
121 Nave Place
Nicholasville, KY 40356
859-537-5372
kyprogress@yahoo.com

Plaintiff
 
 


   
This certifies the forgoing was served this ____ day of __________, 2013 via U.S. Mail upon:


Serve: Governor Steven L. Beshear
Office of the Governor
700 Capitol Avenue, Suite 100
Frankfort, KY 40601

Serve: Commissioner Sharon P. Clark

Department of Insurance

215 W. Main

Frankfort, KY 40601

Attorney General Jack Conway
Office of the Attorney General
700 Capitol Avenue Ste. 118
Frankfort KY 40601



       _________________________________
      
       David Adams

Beshear telegraphs Medicaid budget games

Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear showed in a Finance and Administration document obtained yesterday how he plans to hide Medicaid costs under ObamaCare and state employees will be underwhelmed by his lack of creativity.

Beshear plans to hide about ten percent, and possibly more, of Medicaid costs in the first year of ObamaCare by pushing it off to the first budget year after he leaves office.

Commonwealth's Request for Proposal 758 1300000399 for Medicaid managed care contracts including an illegally expanded Medicaid program under ObamaCare states in Section 30.060.30.10.45 "(f)or members added pursuant to Medicaid expansion under the ACA, the methods used to determine the risk assessment and risk adjustment amount will be designed to be budget neutral to the Commonwealth."

That means provider payments will be cut and services denied in order to balance the books, if you believe the books will actually be balanced. They won't be.

Section 30.060.30.10.10 state "(t)he Department reserves the right, if needed, to delay the monthly payment due on or before June 8, 2014 to on or before July 8, 2014."

The Commonwealth's fiscal year ends June 30. Get the picture?

Kentucky's procurement officials were informed to not share this information, though one eventually did.

NSA, eat your heart out (state ObamaCare email edition)

In case you have been wondering about the silence of media, insurance bureaucrats and left-wing politicians in the two weeks since the initial report of Humana of Kentucky's request for an eighty percent rate increase for health insurance under ObamaCare, wonder no more.

We now have proof.

An internal Kentucky Insurance Department email exchange between Department of Insurance employee Lynda Johnson and Humana actuary Nick Mueller dated June 19 and June 20 clearly refers to Humana's rate increase request. Here is Ms. Johnson's email:

This information has been publicly available for two weeks. The failure of Kentucky's media to cover this great failure of ObamaCare is a disgrace.

My favorite bureaucratic dodge

An attorney for Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear inadvertently makes the case for getting state government under control via the courts in a legal brief filed quietly on Friday.

"Only the Legislature has the authority to decide what constitutes a valid public purpose, and its determination cannot be disturbed as long as the basis is reasonable," said Beshear attorney John C. Enochs. (emphasis added)

This came in Franklin Circuit Court case 13-CI-785 Adams v. Commonwealth, in which the plaintiff seeks a determination that Kentucky's economic development subsidies and tax breaks violate Section 177. Click here and decide for yourself if arbitrarily giving deals or donations to individual companies comports with the plain language of our founding document.

Mr. Enochs also claims this issue was already decided when the Kentucky Supreme Court upheld in 1987 a statute enacted in 1986 to allow such donations to be given to Toyota Motor Manufacturing. This miscarriage of justice, as well-intentioned as it was, opened the flood gates to many more such well-intentioned but far less beneficial deals.

That 1987 court case was based on theory. The one in 2013 will be based on a quarter century of facts. Those facts will not be kind to those who want to argue that the basis for violating the Constitution in 1986 was reasonable.

Rooting out invalid "public purposes" in Kentucky law will not be a comfortable process for the bureaucrats and politicians who have built great fortunes subverting constitutional principles in the name of the public "good."

The evidence will convict them.

Let my people go!

There is a quick, cheap and easy way out of ObamaCare for most Kentuckians but the powers that be conspire to keep it from us in a way that shines a bright light on all that is wrong with government-controlled health insurance.

Consider first an Associated Press story out this weekend with the headline "Christian health program back in Kentucky." The story refers to a judge's ruling allowing Christian Medi-Share back into the state while mentioning that a legislative bill signed by Governor Beshear had a similar effect a month ago and that the company had actually resumed operations then.  

These actions return the number of such religious health sharing plans to three for Kentuckians as Christian HealthCare Ministries and Samaritan Ministries were never forced out as Christian Medi-Share was.

This AP story glosses over the significance of this event in by failing to mention that individuals and families who join these groups become exempt from the ObamaCare individual coverage mandate and federal penalties attached to not buying government-controlled health insurance. It also misleads readers about costs of these programs when it states "Medi-Share ... participants, who pay an average of $300 a month" without specifying that this amount covers an entire family. Kentucky's ObamaCare premiums will cost about that much per person.

Unfortunately, this media perpetuated ignorance is just part of the problem.

Kentucky needs to go back in and expand its exemption to eliminate the state government created black market effect in these plans and our congressional delegation should lead the way on expanding the federal exemption to allow creation of more competition in the marketplace for free market healthcare.

Politicians who talk about repealing ObamaCare but refuse to help with these needed reforms need to explain in detail how they are not part of the problem. Click here for a detailed explanation of what we need to do.

And to be completely clear, we need to expand this coverage option to include non-Christians as soon as possible, too. It's the Christian thing to do and if the people who pushed us into the trainwreck want a way out politically from the disaster they have created, this would do it.

Beshear preparing to shut ObamaCare Exchange

Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear has removed responsibility for Kentucky's unconstitutional Medicaid expansion from his illegal Health Benefit Exchange, we learned today.

That's probably a good idea because a hearing in Franklin Circuit Court on Thursday, August 1 could result in the state shutting down it's ObamaCare "exchange."

And that's very likely to happen because the Constitution sets clear boundaries between the authority of the legislature and the Executive Branch.

"If the Governor's challenged actions are upheld, the Legislative Branch would become irrelevant," said Michael Dean, attorney for the tea party plaintiffs.

Completing the application process for Medicaid, now the job of the Department for Medicaid Services, was made more difficult today by a ruling opening the door for finding that process unconstitutional before state bureaucrats can complete their work.

Judge paves way for win in Medicaid Expansion lawsuit

With two just issued court orders, a Franklin County (KY) Circuit Court judge changed the dynamics of Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear's plan to expand Medicaid under ObamaCare, increasing the likelihood of a tea party victory.

Judge Phillip Shepherd has effectively placed Tea Party activist David Adams, plaintiff in the case, on an even playing field with the Governor going forward in the case by forcing the Governor to answer questions about his ObamaCare actions, by setting a date for resolution of the case prior to ObamaCare open enrollment on October 1 and leaving the door open for stopping the Beshear Administration from making an end run around the process and signing Kentucky up for Medicaid expansion with the Obama Administration before the case is fully heard.

"Governor Beshear needs to follow proper procedure in Kentucky because our laws and our Constitution are stronger than those of the federal government in protecting individual rights," Adams said. "Of course, neither are any good if we don't use them. I appreciate Judge Shepherd for recognizing the value of our republican form of government and acting to restrain the Governor in this way. Without proper process, we couldn't win. With it, the facts and the Constitution speak for themselves and for us. Now we can win."

The application process for the Medicaid expansion is being managed by the Kentucky Health Benefit Exchange, whose very existence is in jeopardy with an August 1 hearing back in Judge Shepherd's courtroom.   

Beshear defaults

Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear has failed to respond to a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of his most potent political weapon, economic development incentives. The suit was filed on July 2; Beshear and Attorney General Jack Conway were served on July 3. 

"Governor Beshear has raised abusing this illegitimate power of picking winners and losers in the marketplace to an art form," David Adams, plaintiff in the lawsuit, said. 

"The flimsy legal case for doling out 'incentives' in Kentucky hinges on something called 'public purpose,' while the results of decades of this practice show that if we were really interested in serving the public we wouldn't be screwing around like this. The Kentucky Constitution literally demands that we stop the corporate welfare nonsense and lower regulatory costs on job creators if jobs are what we want to create." 

Beshear/Obama lose again in Kentucky

Gov. Steve Beshear lost another motion in court today when a Franklin Circuit judge refused to grant his request to skip discovery in a Tea Party case challenging the legality of Kentucky's ObamaCare Medicaid expansion.

Judge Phillip Shepherd set the next order of business as ruling on constitutionality of KRS 205.520(3), the statute Beshear cited as justification for attempting to accept a dramatic increase in the size of the state's Medicaid program.

"The law grants extraordinary power to the Governor to accept federal money for 'medical assistance' and that violates the plain language of Section 2 of the Kentucky Constitution," said David Adams, plaintiff in the case.

Section 2 of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Kentucky says "Absolute and arbitrary power over the lives, liberty and property of freemen exists nowhere in a republic, not even in the largest majority."

KRS 205.520(3) says: Further, it is the policy of the Commonwealth to take advantage of all federal funds that may be available for medical assistance. To qualify for federal funds the secretary for health and family services may by regulation comply with any requirement that may be imposed or opportunity that may be presented by federal law. Nothing in KRS 205.510 to 205.630 is intended to limit the secretary's power in this respect.

Beshear sends ridiculous letter

Governor Steve Beshear has refused to answer even a single discovery question in our lawsuit to stop his illegal creation of the ObamaCare Kentucky Health Benefit Exchange, so when I got a letter from his attorney today chastising me for investigating his unconstitutional Medicaid Expansion I had to laugh.

"Showing up unannounced at the offices of the Health Benefit Exchange is not an appropriate way to obtain information so long as your lawsuit is pending," wrote Beshear attorney Mark D. Guilfoyle. He asked me to submit questions to him in writing, including open records requests.

My suggestion to Mr. Guilfoyle (and Mr. Beshear hiding behind Guilfoyle's skirt) is that he (or perhaps, they) take the earliest possible opportunity to travel to somewhere near the middle of Mammoth Cave underground without navigational tools of any kind.

Click here to read the whole letter.

 

Beshear faked evidence nets Bar complaint

Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear's latest court filing in his bid to force Kentucky into the ObamaCare Medicaid expansion without proper legislative approval may now put his license to practice law in jeopardy.

Tea Party activist David Adams, plaintiff in two lawsuits opposing Beshear's questionable ObamaCare actions, filed a Kentucky Bar Association complaint for evidence Beshear filed in the case which clearly was manufactured to advance his pro-Obama agenda.

"All you have to do is look," Adams said. "Beshear did this to himself and he should be held accountable."

Click here to view the entire complaint.

Humana actuary: our health rates going up 80% in Kentucky

A health insurance actuary at Humana testified in a Kentucky Department of Insurance rate filing document made publicly available today that his company's individual health premiums need to go up eighty percent in 2014 and that sixty percent of that increase is due to the ObamaCare requirement for all applications to be accepted.

Nicholas Mueller, the actuary, requested a rate increase of 91.3% on Humana plan KY71037 and 47.2% on KY71108 which he said is comparable to the current KY71037-01. The Kentucky Department of Insurance demanded $300 for a computer disk with all the new rate application information on it, but eventually relented today and let me look at it in their office.

Anthem's filing did not specifically reference a percentage increase from 2013 to 2014, but its average premium request for 2014 is 14.68% higher than Humana's.

The federally funded Kentucky Health Cooperative Inc. filing contained rates slightly cheaper than Anthem's.

Kentucky Governor accused of altering ObamaCare evidence

Establishment strikes back against Tea Party, again

Kentucky Senate President Robert Stivers and House Speaker Greg Stumbo escaped scrutiny for their role in Kentucky's Medicaid expansion efforts today when Franklin Circuit Court Judge Phillip Shepherd dismissed them as defendants in a Tea Party lawsuit to halt the ObamaCare-related action.

 

 

Plaintiff David Adams expressed disappointment in the ruling, but said he wasn't surprised.

 

 

"Frankfort has gotten so far off the grid in terms of politicians acting outside their constitutionally dictated powers, I think there is great cause for concern both these men will abuse Kentuckians by trying to subvert the legal process and implement the ObamaCare Medicaid expansion. Technically that's speculation but there is substantial evidence to suggest that's the direction they are headed in and once they do it we will have a horrible time getting out of the mess it will create. Kentucky voters have no recourse until there is full and open debate in both chambers and roll call votes putting everyone properly on the record. The Court wasn't ready for that argument yet because this exact argument hasn't been tried before which is a shame because legislative immunity was never intended to protect the kind of lawlessness we see here, but we will try it again and again until it works or until dragging them into court becomes unnecessary."

 

 

"Nevertheless, the case goes on and there are still procedural mechanisms we can use to protect Kentuckians from this mess," Adams said.

 

 

Adams' motion for a temporary injunction halting all state efforts in the Medicaid expansion is scheduled for July 24 in Franklin Circuit Court.

Kentucky's pusillanimous potentate, Steve Beshear

Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear responded to simple discovery questions this weekend with an objection stating that he is being oppressed in his illegal effort to implement ObamaCare in the Bluegrass State.

"Plaintiffs' insistence upon answers to their discovery requests is therefore oppressive and unduly burdensome," Beshear stated through his attorney.

The questions Beshear is so afraid of include "State whether one or more employees of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, while working for or being paid by the Commonwealth, expended time on researching, preparing, typing, printing, distributing or implementing Governor Steven Beshear's Executive Order 2012-587" and "Please provide a complete copy of all contracts entered into by the Commonwealth of Kentucky for use by the Kentucky Health Benefit Exchange created by Executive Order 2012-587, with any seller or distributor of Blackberry or similar cellular telephones as well as with any provider of cellular phone service."

It's certainly understandable that the Governor would be terrified. Beshear refused to answer any of eight such questions.    

More broken windows in Kentucky, with a twist

Gov. Steve Beshear announced today with great fanfare the creation of 1300 new Kentucky jobs with a company called General Dynamics. He seriously downplayed the fact these workers will fulfill the company's federal ObamaCare "customer service" contract. 

In fact, you really have to know what you are looking for to find it in the announcement at all.

Worse, the state is doling out to the company up to $11.5 million in unconstitutional tax credits and "wage assessments" against the employees.

So, if you are keeping score at home, these are 1300 federally funded call center jobs created with borrowed money to "help" people navigate the web sites set up in states who refused to set up their own ObamaCare exchanges to buy health insurance with illegal tax subsidies to avoid illegal tax penalties that was supposed to be easier to purchase than before the exchanges and the customer service providers but isn't and was supposed to be cheaper to purchase before all the new regulations, taxes, subsidies, penalties and fees but isn't while Kentucky launches a similar contract with Xerox to provide similar services here with 100 employees who won't be needed when the Kentucky Health Benefit Exchange is thrown out as illegal later this year by Kentucky courts. Maybe some of those people can then go to work on the federal exchange with General Dynamics, if the law and the exchanges are still around -- which they probably won't be.

Surely it would have been easier to just break a few windows.

KY Attorney General bails out on ObamaCare fight

Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway became the latest Democrat to chicken out of the fight for ObamaCare today with an announcement that he will not contest the Tea Party lawsuit challenging Frankfort's illegal Medicaid expansion.

Conway has publicly expressed an interest in running for Governor in 2015. He cited a "large volume of constitutional challenges" as reason for not coming to the aid of his party's health reform debacle.

"Obama's trainwreck is the worst kind of manmade disaster because it keeps rolling and the body count just keeps growing," said David Adams, plaintiff in the Medicaid expansion lawsuit. "Can't blame General Conway for throwing up his white flag and going into full retreat."

Don't miss Monday morning in Frankfort

Kentucky Senate President Robert Stivers and House Speaker Greg Stumbo have the same lawyer in their legal effort to escape accountability for enabling Gov. Beshear's unconstitutional Medicaid expansion under ObamaCare.

That might not work out so well for them.

Their attorney filed a motion to dismiss them from the tea party lawsuit challenging Medicaid expansion in Kentucky with ten pages of blather about legislative immunity, lack of standing and the same illegitimate whining about the mailing of court documents Beshear tried in his failed motion for the same case.

Here is part of our response:

"Defendants misconstrue the purpose for their inclusion as defendants in this suit and thereby waste precious time and space arguing for an imaginary "absolute" immunity from suit supposedly to protect the integrity of the legislative process and ensure the very survival of "direct representative democracy." Every single reference to this "absolute" immunity in case law, statute or Constitution contains qualifiers and exceptions, of which Plaintiff only requires two: "breach" and "corruption." Plaintiff alleges both."

The hearing on this matter will take place on Monday, July 15 at 9am ET in Franklin Circuit Court at 669 Chamberlain Avenue in Frankfort. Should be Courtroom #3. In any event, Judge Phillip Shepherd is presiding. Hope to see you there.
 

Kentucky ObamaCare staring at trees, misses forest

An extensive study released today by the Kentucky Health Benefit Exchange inadvertently trips all over the simple truth about necessary reforms but fails to see recognize it.

The following passage from the report sums this problem up perfectly:

"The overall finding of the study is that the health care workforce issues uncovered through this report are, and will continue to be, present with or without Medicaid Expansion, KHBE, or other programs across the Commonwealth. Intervention is needed to curb the trending decline of health care workforce capacity in relation to rising population demand, and no single approach will be the panacea."

It comes as no shock to anyone that "Medicaid Expansion, KHBE or other programs" combined will have no positive impact on shortages of medical professionals in Kentucky. Far more likely, these artificial market manipulations will have a negative effect, and quite possibly a large one.

Most telling, of course, is the end of the passage stating "no single approach will be the panacea." Spoken like a government committee paid by the "approach" and paid for perpetuating problems rather than solving problems and working themselves out of their highly paid jobs.

The single approach Kentuckians are looking for -- and won't get until we demand it -- is getting government's hands out of the process completely and letting supply and demand forces work to correct the multiple market imbalances created by government regulation run amok in healthcare these last few decades.

You can read the whole report here.

Beshear owes state $7784.90 and counting...

In court documents filed yesterday, Kentucky Health Benefit Exchange Executive Director Carrie Banahan testified "The Exchange was created pursuant to an Executive Order issued by the Governor on June 19, 2013." (emphasis added)

That date is interesting, because Banahan has been the Executive Director of Kentucky's ObamaCare "exchange" at an annual salary and benefits (state benefits, paid for by you) of $142,074.50 at least since May. Banahan was hired in July of 2012 to run the exchange and it was reported at the time that she would keep her old job until a replacement was hired. That apparently happened in May 2013.

The lawsuit challenging creation of the Kentucky exchange was based on a 2012 executive order that expired ninety days after the 2013 General Assembly session ended. Beshear then replaced that order with a new one, which KRS 12.028(5) clearly states he can not do:

However you slice it Banahan is out of a job soon, since there is no legal authority to create the position she now occupies at such a high cost. Governor Beshear should be made to reimburse the state for her salary and benefits since June 19, 2013 when he issued his bogus replacement executive order. 

Another embarrassing Beshear gambit

Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear must be a terrible poker player.
 

Beshear, through his attorney in his quixotic legal effort blow up Kentucky's Medicaid program with hundreds of thousands of new recipients under the ObamaCare trainwreck, has attempted weakly to trick the plaintiff in Adams v. Beshear 13-CI-605 to throw away his case on a series of lies perpetratrated by Beshear.
 

"There are no material issues of fact in dispute," Beshear's attorney, Patrick Hughes, wrote today in a proposed order. "Therefore, there will be no discovery between the parties."
 

Nice try, Governor.
 

The first material issue of fact in the case is that Beshear has taken no action to effectuate the optional ObamaCare Medicaid expansion. Beshear's attorney made this claim in court and in writing and it is false. Discovery will show that. Beshear also claimed Kentucky can back out of the Medicaid expansion if (when) we find out that we can't afford it. This is also false, a fact also to be made clear in the discovery process. Beshear's attorney just got finished claiming in court that there is no factual record for the court to consider and that he should be handed the win as a result.
 

And now he wants to shut down the case before that same relevant information is placed on record with the court.
 

"There is a fine line between being overly bold and being stupid," David Adams, plaintiff, said. "I hope the Governor thinks twice before crossing it again. His unlawful actions are bad enough and don't need to be compounded by legal shenanigans. Kentuckians should be disgusted by this behavior and I think Gov. Beshear owes us all an apology for trying to subvert justice in this embarrassing fashion."

Say "NO" to corporate welfare in Kentucky

Kentucky Citizens Judicial President David Adams filed a lawsuit in Franklin Circuit Court challenging the constitutionality of the bulk of the Commonwealth's system of economic development.

Adams asked the court to rule "activities of government in the Commonwealth violate the plain language of the Kentucky Constitution when they treat individuals and groups of individuals differently from each other in terms of taxation, ownership or use of private property or substantial and particular benefits derived from public property."

He seeks temporary and permanent injunctions against continued proliferation of such efforts. Governor Steve Beshear and Secretary of the Cabinet for Economic Development Larry Hayes were named as defendants in the lawsuit.

Adams claimed three specific statutes are unconstitutional and that government economic development "has grown to consume far more collective activity, power, attention and resources than could have been envisioned as recently as 1986."

That's the year a bill in the General Assembly proposed as an effort to attract Japanese automaker Toyota to manufacture cars in Georgetown, Kentucky granted substantial new powers to state government to control private economic activity in the Bluegrass State.

Adams said "substantial waste of state resources and centralization of power in contradicting the plain language and the clear intent of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Kentucky" made judicial action necessary.

Kentucky's illegal ObamaCare scheme takes huge hit

Franklin Circuit Court Judge Phillip Shepherd ruled this morning against Gov. Steve Beshear's motion to dismiss the second tea party lawsuit filed against him.

Plaintiff David Adams claims the law Beshear is using to justify expanding Medicaid is unconstitutional. Beshear responded that a claim of violation of citizen rights is the same as not alleging "any injury at all."

"The record clearly shows Governor Beshear's attorney argued in court that he doesn't recognize the value of citizens' rights at all," Adams said. "The judge rejected that argument, so now we go on to see if the executive and legislative branches can keep robbing us to buy votes for themselves. I don't think they can."

Insurance official confirms ObamaCare to crush Kentucky

A top official at the Kentucky Department of Insurance has leaked data showing health insurance premiums under ObamaCare will increase by an average of eighty percent at the start of 2014 for the state's largest insurer, Anthem.

DJ Wasson, Acting Director of Kentucky Access, confirmed the skyrocketing rates have been available for a week but has not talked publicly about this and doesn't want anyone to call her at 502-573-1026 for details.

Kentucky's major media figures are apparently determined to respect her privacy in this time of professional turmoil.

Meanwhile, the "told you so's" just keep rolling in. If you are still wondering why we who oppose ObamaCare keep fighting so hard to stop it, this would be a good point at which to ponder the power of big government and the damage it so carelessly inflicts.

Responding to an angry ObamaCare fan

In the June 27 Lexington Herald Leader, Doug Epling went on a tirade against the Tea Party lawsuit seeking to stop the illegal expansion of Medicaid. I just submitted the following response:

While I don't really mind the name-calling directed at me by letter writer Doug Epling on the June 27 Opinions page, I am offended by his reckless disregard for the truth as it applies to Gov. Steve Beshear and leaders of the Kentucky General Assembly attempting to use unconstitutional means to expand Medicaid in Kentucky as part of ObamaCare.

Even if the proposed Medicaid expansion were different than all previous expansions of this disastrous federal "health" program and truly represented even a small portion of the purported economic stimulus some have promised, a proper procedure for making such an enormous policy change exists for good reason. That proper procedure has not been followed.

Kentucky's Constitution very firmly requires checks and balances throughout state government for the protection of all citizens. This basic principle has been flagrantly ignored in Frankfort in this case, to the extent that Gov. Beshear's attorney argued in open court that rights of citizens have no intrinsic value whatsoever. Our fighting men and women have not stared down Death itself so some government employee could succumb to such a backwards view of his function in society.

We should have a vibrant public discussion about the efficacy of Medicaid, its dreary history, its bleak future and the culture of dependency it has exacerbated. But first, we must agree to follow Kentucky law. We can all agree to do that, right? Such is the primary purpose of the lawsuit that now so angers Mr. Epling. That's a shame.

Beshear, Stumbo: what they knew and when

On Thursday, March 25, 1982 with Lieutenant Governor Martha Layne Collins presiding as Senate President, the Kentucky Senate passed a government reorganization bill known then as HB 345. Her Attorney General was future Governor Steve Beshear. The bill would limit interim executive orders filed by Kentucky governors by requiring them to gain subsequent approval by the immediate following General Assembly and provide that orders failing to receive approval could not then be re-introduced until the next session of the General Assembly.

When the bill, as amended by the Senate, got back over to the House, a new member named Greg Stumbo, now Speaker, voted for it. The bill became law, subject to take effect January 1, 1984.

By that time, Steve Beshear was then Lieutenant Governor and Kentucky Senate President.

So it is more than a little odd that on June 19, 2013 Governor Steve Beshear rescinded his failed July 2012 executive order he is currently in court fighting to keep alive beyond its legal death and then re-issued essentially the same executive order. He knows both actions are illegal because he was there holding three of the top offices in state government when it was made so.

House Speaker Greg Stumbo can't plead ignorance, either -- though such is currently in vogue for legislators who wish to escape accountability for inconvenient votes. Again, he voted into law the statute his Governor is now violating to cram ObamaCare down Kentuckians' throats. As a former Attorney General himself, what excuse can Stumbo possibly have for acquiescing to this lawlessness?

And the quiet Republican lawmakers in Frankfort are no better. What a disgraceful episode. Hard to imagine Kentucky's intrepid press corps sleeping through such a slam dunk case of waste, fraud and abuse for much longer. Any judges looking over Adams et. al. v. Beshear surely won't appreciate this blatant disregard for the law.

Alison Lundergan Grimes witnessed key ObamaCare crime

Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes' plans to run for U.S. Senate now pretty much require her to avoid any controversial policy positions. Those plans may need another look after she attested to Gov. Beshear's illegal ObamaCare executive order last Wednesday in her office.

Creation of the Kentucky Health Benefit Exchange subjects Kentuckians to billions of dollars in unnecessary taxes, fees and regulatory expenses for no real benefit. While Gov. Beshear may not like that description of his handiwork and may not even agree with it, as a lame duck governor he doesn't really have to care beyond the embarrassment of losing court battles.

But Candidate Grimes has to care a lot. It isn't illegal for a Kentucky Secretary of State to accept a bogus document like this, but as a would-be Senator, she should be expected to talk about it every time she, uh, raises her head. 

Kentucky's pro-ObamaCare contingent has been eerily quiet about the legal fate of their grand plans. Will their new fearless leader now come to their defense?

Beshear's ObamaCare "exchange" gets temporary stay of execution

Franklin Circuit Court Judge Phillip Shepherd today granted Gov. Steve Beshear additional time to "prepare" for legal arguments on his ObamaCare "exchange" mess that he now can't win.

Last Wednesday, Beshear conceded all the objections against his illegal 2012 executive order seeking to create an ObamaCare health benefit exchange in Kentucky. He then immediately reissued essentially the same executive order, which is also against the law.

This extra time to do his homework on the case doesn't change anything. The only detail left to determine is the date of death for Kentucky's dalliance with the dramatically underfunded mandate of the state-run health exchange.

Please spread the word. It's now time to turn our focus to shutting down the Medicaid expansion here.

Will media fail to cover Beshear's Waterloo?

By all credible accounts, Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear's illegal effort to set up a state-run ObamaCare "exchange" web site without proper legislative approval will come to an ignominious end in Franklin Circuit Court on Monday morning. But will the media be there to bear record of his embarrassing failure?

If alleged threats by Beshear loyalists against Kentucky journalists hit their marks, they might not. On condition of anonymity, several reporters say their editors and producers suggest they may not be allowed to report a negative outcome for Beshear on Monday.

Please call your newspaper, radio and television news departments and ask them to cover Franklin Circuit Court Judge Phillip Shepherd's hearing Monday morning June 24 of the health benefit exchange case known as Adams v. Beshear. The hearing will take place at the temporary Franklin County Courthouse at 669 Chamberlain Avenue in Frankfort at 9am ET.

To recap, Beshear has responded to the legal effort to render his July 2012 executive order creating the Kentucky Health Benefit Exchange null and void by rescinding his first executive order and, illegally, issuing a new one. This is in direct violation of KRS 12.028(5) and he must face the music Monday morning.

The hearing is open to the public and you are invited to attend. Bring friends and bring a journalist or two.

Tea Party crushes ObamaCare in Kentucky, step one

The state-run Kentucky Health Benefit Exchange died on Wednesday, but is only now starting to stink badly enough to be noticed.

On Wednesday, Governor Steve Beshear panicked and reissued his July 2012 executive order creating the ObamaCare "exchange," in a very weak attempt to forestall losing the tea party lawsuit challenging his authority to write his own law without legislative approval.

How weak, you ask? This weak: the very law he cited as his authority for creating the exchange in the first place, KRS 12.028, which clearly requires him to get legislative approval he didn't get, also clearly specifies that he can't just reissue failed executive orders.

"This is the most ludicrous thing I've ever heard of a Kentucky Governor doing," said David Adams, lead plaintiff in the lawsuit to shut down the exchange. "It's about time to tell Beshear to drop this silliness and to 'get over it.'"

This case will be back in Franklin Circuit Court Monday morning, June 24, at 9:00 am ET in the Franklin County Courthouse 669 Chamberlain Avenue in Frankfort.

Stumbo out, Stivers in on Medicaid expansion lawsuit

The plaintiff in a state lawsuit to stop Kentucky from illegally accepting ObamaCare's Medicaid expansion is dropping House Speaker Greg Stumbo as a defendant in the case.

David Adams of Nicholasville, plaintiff in two current cases involving Kentucky's controversial role in attaching itself to unfunded mandates in the so-called "Affordable Care Act," said the move involves legal and political realities.

"Speaker Stumbo and Governor Beshear are of one mind in this matter, I'm already suing Beshear and under Kentucky law, Stumbo is essentially just a legislator," Adams said. "That means he probably can claim legislative immunity to a lawsuit."

"But when President Stivers went on television this week and showed himself clearly to be on the wrong side of Kentuckians' rights in the Medicaid expansion issue just as Republicans in other states are caving in, it became clear to me what needed to be done," Adams said.

"President Stivers wants to have it both ways in accepting the Medicaid expansion by illegal means while claiming to be against it," Adams said. "And if he really thinks he is immune to a court challenge as a member of the legislature, he should read Section 85 of the Kentucky Constitution."

"That's why I'm suing President Stivers to stop him from acting illegally to accept the Medicaid expansion."

Stivers' claim of legislative immunity comes up for debate in Franklin Circuit Court at 9 am ET on Monday, July 15.

Will Obama come to church in Kentucky?

Cigarette smoking is a pretty popular activity in Kentucky. Meanwhile, health insurance rates are about to go  up dramatically for all Kentuckians, but supposedly even more for smokers under an ObamaCare rule (45 CFR 147.102). An interesting twist in the form of an exception to this new rule could stir up controversy within an Administration already rocked by abuses of the Internal Revenue Service and federal officials dropping in unwanted on personal interactions.

This federal rule defines "tobacco use" as "use of tobacco on average four or more times per week within no longer than the past six months."

This is not only ridiculously impossible to monitor (unless the NSA gets involved, perhaps) but it gets sillier. Language in the rule provides exemption to the definition of tobacco use for users engaged in "religious or ceremonial use of tobacco."

How long will it take for health insurance discount seeking smoking aficianados across the Commonwealth to band together and create "churches" devoted to religious
tobacco use?

Yet another reason to get government out of the business of health care and insurance.

Response to Beshear's Motion to Dismiss (Medicaid lawsuit)

COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY

FRANKLIN CIRCUIT COURT

DIVISION 1

CASE NO 13-CI-000605

DAVID ADAMS                                                                                   PLAINTIFF

v.

COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY, et al.                                       DEFENDANTS

PLAINTIFF’S RESPONSE TO DEFENDANTS’ MOTION TO DISMISS

Comes now the Plaintiff, David Adams, in opposition to Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss.

BACKGROUND

            In 1966 the Kentucky General Assembly passed HB 115 and the Governor signed it into law. The resulting statute from this action currently grants absolute authority to the Secretary for the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to obligate the Commonwealth to fulfill “any obligation that may be imposed … by federal law” to obtain federal funds. The statute, KRS 205.520(3), clearly violates the plain language of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Kentucky Section 2, which reads in its entirety “Absolute and arbitrary power over the lives, liberty and prosperity of freemen exists nowhere in a republic, even in the largest majority.”

Defendants misconstrue much of the rationale for this current action by suggesting it “arises out of the Governor’s announcement that he intends to expand Kentucky’s Medicaid program.” The Governor’s May 9, 2013 press conference announcing his Administration’s unilateral action to apply for Medicaid expansion and thereby obligate taxpayers of the Commonwealth to “any requirement that may be imposed” with no regard for the practically limitless liability such action invites serves as a shocking exhibition of the unconstitutional statute in question, but does not by itself bring about this action. Nor, as Defendants suggest, does an official application to the federal government for an expansion of Medicaid trigger the concept of ripeness to grant this court jurisdiction in this action. The presence of an unconstitutional law triggers this action. Lending support to the urgency and legitimacy of this action is Defendant’s blatantly false claim in their motion that “even if the Commonwealth elects to expand Medicaid pursuant to the ACA, it may later elect to withdraw from such election, even before a potential reduction of its federal share to a level below 100%.”

This absurd falsehood by Defendants helps describe the utter lawlessness and lack of regard for individual rights which only enhance the need for this action.

In the alternative, there is no statute of limitations on the right of an individual to challenge an unconstitutional law. Indeed, nothing limits as to timing the rights of Kentucky citizens to challenge unconstitutional laws.

ARGUMENT

            Contrary to Defendants’ contention that Plaintiff’s constitutional challenge is not ripe because an action Plaintiff seeks to prevent has not yet occurred misses the entire point that KRS 205.520(3), which Defendants cite in their motion as their only authorization for that action, is already null and void.

Further, while it is unclear whether the United States Department of Health and Human Services would recognize a flawed application for Medicaid expansion due to insufficiency within state law as reason to reject the application, that is a chance Plaintiff should not have to take as a consequence of not previously challenging the constitutionality of KRS 205.520(3).

In the alternative, the case law cited by Defendants in their Motion to Dismiss fails to apply to this case by describing circumstances in which means of administrative redress had not yet been exhausted, thereby rendering those actions premature, no such administrative review exists in this case, specifically related to the unconstitutional construction of KRS 205.520(3). As such, Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss on the grounds this action is not yet ripe must be rejected.

            Defendants’ claims that this action presents an attempt to “elicit the Court’s opinion on the constitutionality of prospective executive actions” and should therefore be dismissed fails to persuade, again, because, the statute KRS 205.520(3) itself triggers this action and not some future executive branch activity.

Defendants’ citation regarding prohibition of advisory opinions does not apply to this case because, again, the existence of unchecked “absolute” power as created by KRS 205.520(3) fits perfectly within the jurisdictional boundaries of Section 112(5) of the Kentucky Constitution because this case is justiciable and not within the purview of some other court. This case is not hypothetical in the least, particular damage to Plaintiff as an individual and to citizens of the Commonwealth generally is not only self-evident as a function of the existence of unchecked power, but it can only be effectively addressed here.

Defendants also allege failure to demonstrate standing under KRS 418.040. On this, Defendants also fail on the basis of plain language contradicting their claims. KRS 418.040 states “In any action in a court of record of this Commonwealth having general jurisdiction wherein it is made to appear that an actual controversy exists, the plaintiff may ask for a declaration of rights, either alone or with other relief; and the court may make a binding declaration of rights whether or not consequential relief is or could be asked.”

In this, another citation provided by Defendants proves the alternative of their assertion. Quoting Veith v. City of Louisville, Defendants write “a court does not have jurisdiction to decide a question unless there is a real and justiciable controversy involving specific rights of particular parties.” Veith v. City of Louisville, 355 S.W. 2d 295, 297 (Ky. 1962). Existence of a “real and justiciable controversy” is debatable only if one adopts Defendants’ claim that this case is only about a hypothetical future event, which it clearly is not. Prior acts of the Kentucky Health Benefits Exchange reflect already that resources have been expended under the assumption Medicaid will be expanded under KRS 205.520(3). This presupposes administrative action by the Governor he now, through counsel, denies. Further, the very existence of KRS 205.520(3) independent of the Medicaid expansion has and continues to put at great risk the lives, liberty and property of Kentucky citizens in general and the Plaintiff in particular. As such, Defendants’ claim this action represents a mere advisory opinion and that it lacks particularized injury fails.

 Further, Defendants seek dismissal with prejudice of this action. They have in no way made the case for such final action on this matter, even if the case as presently written fails on some jurisdictional or technical grounds, which it does not. The attempt at such denial of rights as well as loss of personal funds already expended by Plaintiff in this matter suggests strongly not only particularization of this case, but the very controversial nature thereof also. For these reasons, Plaintiff asks the Court to reject Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss.

Defendants also claim service of Complaint was not provided upon Governor Beshear, Secretary Haynes and Attorney General Jack Conway. The court’s record of this case will reflect otherwise.

CONCLUSION

Defendants propose four justifications for their Motion to Dismiss Plaintiff’s Complaint. Defendants seek first and most substantially to dismiss this action on grounds of lack of ripeness. Rather than properly address the chronology provided in the Complaint, however, Defendants seek to turn this constitutional issue of real controversy and judiciability with clear general and particularized harm evident for citizens and taxpayers of the Commonwealth into a cat-and-mouse game in which citizens must wait for Governor Beshear to sign away more of our rights to our own “lives, liberty and property” without question. In short, Defendants wish to use this Court to stifle dissent long enough for them to make an end run around the Constitution in order to exercise powers denied them by the Kentucky Constitution. Plaintiffs request the Court reject Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss and also issue a temporary injunction under CR 65.04 against Defendants’ moving in any way to enact the Medicaid expansion at issue in this case.

An email from Mary Lyons, Lexington

Printed with permission:

Just called Gov. "Chicken Biscuits" office and spoke with Katie Mueller re: the court hearing on Monday and told her I was the lady that called yesterday in re: to the Obummercare Medicaid Exchange and saw that he had a court hearing for Monday at 9:00 A.M. at the court house and she "wasn't aware of a court hearing." 

I told I just called to make sure that he was going to be at this hearing because as a Kentuckian I want to hear what he had to say about this and how it is going to affect many Kentucky taxpayers. She said she didn't know about his schedule and that he has legal counsel that would take care of it, but I pressed her and said that he needs to be there because he is the one being sued and Kentucky needs to know what he is up to. 

She said that it was his decision that they were going to accept this exchange regardless. I said, without the vote of the Legislature? She got real good and agitated and said she wasn't going to argue with me about it. I asked to speak to his secretary after she said she didn't have his schedule for Monday, so I could confirm that he was going to be there and she would not transfer me to "Chicken Biscuits" secretary. 

I said, as a Kentuckian taxpayer I have a right to know if the Gov. is indeed going to show up for a court hearing that is as important as this that will affect Kentucky for years. She repeated that the Exchange will be accepted and there is nothing we can do about. God only knows if Governor Chicken Biscuit will show. 

What a freaking coward! I am so glad you sued him. I hope to be there on Monday, if I don't have jury duty. I was chosen for jury duty for the month of June in Fayette County. I love jury duty, I consider them Divine Appointments. I pray that you will have a good day. Stand strong, don't get discouraged or anxious, trust God and obey and He will give the victory. Just keep in mind: GOD HAS EVERYTHING UNDER CONTROL, when we don't think He does. This is the one thing that brings me great joy every day I get up. GOD IS AN ON TIME GOD.

Small town lawyer blisters Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear

Plaintiffs in the Tea Party lawsuit to stop Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear from setting up a state-run ObamaCare "exchange" without legislative approval have filed a motion for summary judgment, which would shut down the exchange.

Attorney Michael Dean, of Irvine, argued for the plaintiffs:

"It is clear that Governor Beshear may not, without legislative action, authority or appropriation, take it upon himself to reorganize state government, create government boards, offices and make appointments to them, promulgate administrative regulations, create budgets, incur debts, enter contracts, impose taxes or fees, accept federal funds and decide how they are to be spent, and commit state dollars to his enormous new bureaucratic undertaking."

"There being no genuine issues of material fact in dispute, as a matter of law the Executive Order and all action taking in furtherance therof and the administrative regulations promulgated thereunder are unconstitutional, and the court should so declare, and should enter a permanent injunction, barring implementation of the Executive Order, voiding all contracts, employment positions, and commitments, and freeze further payments and expenditure of funds by or for the purpose or benefit of the Exchange."

Mr. Dean had Governor Beshear's legal team chasing their tails and barking at the moon. It was more fun than watching Judge Judy catch some poor non-gubernatorial sap in a lie.

The summary judgment motion is scheduled to be heard in Judge Shepherd's courtroom at 9am on Monday June 24, 2013 at 669 Chamberlain Avenue in Frankfort. Everyone is invited to attend.

Freedom going viral in Kentucky

Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear's attempt to ram ObamaCare down the throats of an electorate who rejected Barack Obama resoundingly twice is, unsurprisingly, not going well.

Internal chaos at the Kentucky Health Benefit Exchange, the Department of Insurance, the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, and the Kentucky Democratic Party is masked only superficially by bureaucratic purring about how great ObamaCare is going to be and a remarkably incurious media who wrote hundreds of articles about incompetence in the last (Republican) gubernatorial Administration.

Two lawsuits have been filed to stop the twin state ObamaCare options -- a state run health insurance bureaucracy inauspiciously wrapped up in a web site created to make health insurance buying easier but instead ushering in an era of confusion and complexity not seen since the Byzantine Empire and an expansion of the disastrous Medicaid.

The first case, against the Beshear administration's blatantly illegal establishment of the exchange, nears a quiet end just as Beshear channels Star Wars' Grand Moff Tarkin: "Evacute? In our moment of triumph? I think you overestimate their chances" seconds before the Death Star explodes.

His case in the second lawsuit is even worse. Governor Beshear's motion to dismiss is scheduled for hearing in Judge Phillip Shepherd's courtroom on Monday June 17 at 9:00 am ET at the Franklin County Courthouse, 669 Chamberlain Avenue in Frankfort. His case dangles precariously on the bizarre -- and already once failed -- assertion that citizens can't question his illegal and unconstitutional acts and the idea that suit can't be brought to stop him from signing the state up for a Medicaid death spiral until he actually does it.

Tea Party activist David Adams, as plaintiff in the Medicaid case, will be arguing the case before the judge next Monday.

"If Gov. Beshear is smart he won't show up," Adams said. "But I'm going to spend the next few days talking up the need for him to defend this mess in person and not hide behind legal shenanigans in the shadows with his lawyers and flacks."

Affordable Legal Care Act, anyone?

A good attorney can be worth far more than his or her weight in gold and I know lots of good attorneys.

But I also know the limitations of a government run cartel and the legal profession is one. If you really need an attorney with legal expertise, go find one with the best available training and experience and pay him or her well. But that occasional need shouldn't necessitate clinging to a regulatory model we know does not serve willing providers and willing consumers very efficiently.

As such, I suggest changing Kentucky law to decriminalize the practice of law without government permission. Would just involve striking one line of statute:

KY Obamacrats seek bids for health exchange "navigators"

Kentucky's ObamaCare coordinators announced today they have issued a request for proposals for people to "help" health insurance consumers wade through the application process to sign up for government controlled health coverage.

The fact that we are wasting millions of dollars to send people around the state to explain a web site costing billions to implement a federal plan spending trillions doesn't inspire confidence on any level.

Not to mention the fact the whole state program was created illegally.

Protecting Kentucky's oath of office

A court hearing July 15 in Frankfort will challenge long-held tradition shielding legislative leaders from lawsuits when they ignore their oath of office.

"To the extent Kentuckians are aware of the oath of office at all, most of us just know the anachronistic prohibition on fighting duels but it also requires protection of the Constitution," said David Adams, plaintiff in two lawsuits challenging the legality of ObamaCare implementation in the Commonwealth.

"Legislative rules have been changed to tolerate lawlessness among legislative leaders and reward violations of the Constitution," Adams said. "We have an opportunity to bring this out in the open and fix it for the benefit of all Kentuckians, so that's the plan."

The hearing will take place during Judge Phillip Shepherd's July 15 motion hour starting at 9am ET at the Franklin County Courthouse, 669 Chamberlain Avenue in Frankfort.