Next up: Kentucky picks health exchange mandates

Rep. Stan Lee has pre-filed a bill to clarify that Obama's health insurance exchange can't make an end-run around state law and require coverage of abortions in Kentucky.

He should now file another bill to prohibit exchange coverage of all other kinds of surgeries.

Insurance coverage mandates increase costs. Verify that with your plastic surgeon or contact lens provider.

Another secret ObamaCare meeting

Governor Steve Beshear's ObamaCare Health Benefit Exchange Advisory Board will meet on Thursday September 27 at 1:30 pm in Frankfort at the Department of Insurance, 215 W. Main Street.

Please call Karen Cantrell at 502-564-7940 and ask if the meeting is open to the public.

Republicans can win state House on ObamaCare

Democratic state Rep. Mary Jane King went on the radio to campaign and painted herself into a corner on her support of ObamaCare. There are lessons here for her opponent, tea party Republican Chris Hightower and other Republicans around the state.

Rep. King says in the interview she supports key features of ObamaCare, but starts going wobbly when she is pressed about how those features negatively impact people buying insurance.

Pressed further, she tries to run away from the whole thing and put responsibility on Congress. That's a nice try, but if the state merely stops setting up the optional health insurance exchange and refuses to accept the optional Medicaid expansion -- neither of which is affordable in the state budget -- ObamaCare goes away.

There is still time for a bill in 2013 to stop both of these activities from proceeding into 2014. Republican candidates should propose that and get their opponents on the record right away.

Here is Rep. King's interview:

Left doubles down on "Didn't Build That"

Republicans have clearly struck a nerve attempting to capitalize on President Barack Obama's claim that "You didn't build that."

Writing for Kentucky's fifth-highest circulation newspaper today, reporter Joe Sonka attacked Senator Rand Paul for bringing it up.

"The main theme of his speech was the main theme of the convention so far, which is a blatant and shameless lie — “You didn’t build that!” — taking President Obama completely out of context to mislead that he said business owners didn’t build their own business, instead of what he really said, that business owners didn’t build the roads, bridges and infrastructure that they rely upon."(emphasis added)

Liberal bloggers apparently believe that government creates infrastructure with the sweat of its own brow, rather than with resources taken from private sector wealth generators.

Could this be why they are still so confused about government "stimulus?"

Retiring GOP lawmaker blasts David Williams?

Kentucky Rep. Bill Farmer (R-Lexington) will retire from the legislature at the end of this year, so he doesn't have to hold his tongue anymore about the disaster Senate President David Williams has been for Republicans. 

In a comment on an online Louisville Courier Journal column about legislative pension greed today, Rep. Farmer recalled the vitriol directed at lawmakers who, like him, voted against the David Williams Pension Scandal.

Rigor mortis is starting to set in on David Williams' shenanigans in Frankfort. Expect a lot more of this soon.

Bob Damron writes off "math literate" vote

Nicholasville Democrat Rep. Bob Damron sent an official-looking glossy campaign mailer to his constituents today seeking to confuse voters in the 39th House district about fiscal mismanagement in Frankfort.

"Unlike the Federal Government, State budgets must be balanced," Damron wrote. "The only debts we at the State level incur are for the construction of capital projects and needed infrastructure."

Rep. Damron should try selling this garbage to the federal whistleblower who recently stepped down from Kentucky Retirement Systems. Chris Tobe said years of underfunding by the legislature to spend the money on pet projects has wrecked the public employee benefits system.

"Underfunding each year is like a hurricane devastating the pension," Tobe said. Tobe explained the legislature has underfunded state pensions by several hundred million dollars each year throughout the past decade.

Damron's constituents don't need to be Accounting majors to understand that a "balanced budget" doesn't include enough in misdirected pension funds to endanger the state's fiscal situation with over $30 billion in unfunded pension liabilities.

But Rep. Damron wants to keep you focused only on state bonded debt by itself and to ignore the context of trying to keep the state afloat while being forced to address the tidal wave of pension payments due to hit us by the end of Governor Steve Beshear's term in office.

And that doesn't even touch the ObamaCare costs due to crush us about the same time. (Did I mention Rep. Damron supports ObamaCare?) Needless to say, Damron is already spinning this mess he helped create and voted for at every turn.

"Often political candidates try to mislead voters and equate State Government Bonding (Debt) with the increasing debt, but the two are very different," Damron wrote.

On this, Damron has a point. It's just not the one he intends. The state will run out of money way before the federal government does, because the state can't print its own money.

But then, Bob Damron really hopes you aren't paying attention.

"I only wish they (federal government) had the same fiscal discipline that we have at the State level," Damron wrote.

Fast forward about three years and this last comment will be high comedy. Until then, if you want to keep supporting Bob Damron you should try really hard to ignore things like this.

Beshear admin lashes out on abortion scheme

In response to this blog post and subsequent announcement of a House Republican bill to prevent inclusion of abortion coverage in Kentucky's health insurance exchange, the Commonwealth's Department of Insurance rushed out the following statement:

STATEMENT FROM COMMISSIONER SHARON P. CLARK: The Department of Insurance is receiving reports of incorrect information being distributed to the public concerning our position on essential health benefits offered as part of the Kentucky Health Benefit Exchange. Some of this misrepresentation appears to be deliberate. Coverage for elective abortions will not be an essential health benefit. This would be a violation of state law and has never been considered. Under Kentucky law (KRS 304.5-160), health insurance companies cannot offer coverage for elective abortions except as a separate rider with a separate premium. Therefore, abortions cannot be offered as an essential health benefit in Kentucky's Health Benefit Exchange.

I'm guessing Commissioner Clark doesn't expect anyone to read beyond her own hysterical protestations. In fact, if you actually take a minute to glance at KRS 304.5-160 and HHS Pre-Regulatory Model Guidelines Under Section 1303 of the Affordable Care Act (PL-111-148): Issued Pursuant to Executive Order 13535 (March 24, 2010), you won't be so easily fooled.

The Kentucky statute does indeed prohibit coverage for elective abortions "except as a separate rider with a separate premium."

The House Republicans were right to engage on this issue quickly. Senate Republicans would do well to follow their lead, particularly in anticipation of more federal administrative rules.

Are we ready to end legislative pension grab?

In 2012, no less than five legislative bills in the Kentucky General Assembly sought to stop further damage in the David Williams Pension Scandal.

None of those bills even got a floor vote in the House or Senate.

Senator Dennis Parrett is back with what will be Senate Bill 12 pre-filed for 2013. His bill would end the state legislator's pension program and take away the ability for legislators to get huge unearned pension "reciprocity" for election or appointment elsewhere in state or local government.

Senate President David Williams stood to gain hundreds of thousands of dollars under reciprocity had he been elected governor in 2011.

David Adams on radio in Lexington

I will be on Lexington radio today talking about how we can create health freedom in Kentucky and then spread it to the rest of the United States. Please tune in to Kruser and Krew on 590 WVLK AM at 1:00 pm ET. You may also listen online at www.wvlkam.com and call in with questions to 859-253-5959.

Starting to see real momentum on this. We will have legislative bills in both the Kentucky House and Senate pre-filed very soon and I'm continuing to set up speaking engagements around the state on this issue. If you would like to support the effort financially, please click here and donate what you can. Any amount will be a big help.

House GOP heads off Beshear abortion scheme

Kentucky House Republican Rep. Stan Lee will pre-file a bill to prevent Governor Steve Beshear from requiring Kentuckians to buy health insurance covering abortions.

Having started the process of using state government tools to limit bureaucratic atrocities in health care, we now need to do more. Expanding the Religious Publications Exemption to create a secure free market alternative to government-controlled health insurance in the Commonwealth is critical to turning the tide in this battle.

"Occupy Wall Street" meets Tea Party in Frankfort

"Occupy Wall Street" protesters plan to attend a Kentucky Tea Party rally in Frankfort on Tuesday. The rally features Senator Rand Paul and Senator Mitch McConnell talking about defeating ObamaCare.

"I have regarded this as an Occupy event from the beginning," said liberal activist Ryan Hidalgo of Owensboro.

Occupiers have actively been recruiting for weeks, starting with blogger Jim Pence. Pence has sought to inspire left-wing participation in the event by calming fears about potential violence.

"This is a free country, but when we become afraid to exercise our freedom then we are no longer free," Pence said. "Believe me, there will be plenty of law enforcement at the event, including Capitol police. I know because I've been to events like this and believe me, violence won't be tolerated."

Pence attended a 2009 Louisville Tea Party event with some 3000 attendees. He said:

"I went to the event alone, a 70 year old progressive among 3000 conservatives, with only my camera and camcorder and didn't have one problem with anyone. I didn't hide the fact I was a progressive -- nor did I flaunt it -- and no one seemed to care. The event was secured by plenty of police protection and would have been the perfect place for Louisville progressives to counter the Tea Party Express in front of the entire nation. But, for whatever reason, Louisville progressives decided to let the Tea Party Express have their way in Louisville Kentucky."

Despite Pence's peaceful plea, overheated rhetoric has also been a key part of the effort to draw OWS activism in opposition to the tea party.

Clarksville, Indiana CPA Linda Jaggers Mitchell claims to have attended prior tea party events and says she approves of liberals going even as she lobs a bomb of her own.

"Personally, I don't think of it as crashing but I know how dangerous the tea party can be," she said. "These people are crazy. I really don't want to be around them."

"These people make my blood boil," Lela Morgan said.

Again, others were much more reasonable, suggesting a peaceful, if spirited, event.

"We are merely going there to protest the legislators and their policy," said April Browning of Lexington. "In this case it happens to be Republican policy. I do not reserve my voice to speak out against one party and not the other. I am neither Democrat nor Republican but I am an activist, an activist who believes in the power of the people, the power of social movements and the power of using your voice."

Still others among the liberal protesters suggested bringing signs to show solidarity with tea party principles, in opposition to establishment politicians of both parties.

Karen Conley posted on Facebook a list of suggested slogans opposing bank bailouts, earmarks, civil rights abuses and out of control government budgets.

"This would make it less likely the tea partiers would be against our message," she said.

Kentucky needs a brain transplant

ObamaCare advocates in the Kentucky Department of Insurance are plotting to require all health insurance policies in Kentucky to cover abortions among the "essential health benefits" required by the federal law.

Whether you oppose abortions or not, this is a bad idea. It is wrong to force Kentuckians to pay for  abortions, particularly those who are pro-life. It's also wrong for the government to force Kentuckians to buy insurance policies covering services they don't want or need.

If we were smart, we would describe our "essential health benefits" under ObamaCare as ridiculously as possible so that they wouldn't apply to anything and insurers could write policies based on public demand. Things like brain transplants, nose removal, adding a third arm to a patient's torso or an extra pair of ears to his head.

Such a stupid law deserves just such a response.

Frankfort stirs abortion hornet's nest

Kentuckians who don't want to be forced to pay for abortions when paying health insurance premiums in 2014 need to let the Commonwealth's Department of Insurance know now.

Because ObamaCare assumes you are too stupid to demand health insurance benefits you want and need, states setting up health exchanges under the federal law must specify what health insurers will cover and what they will not.

The Department issued this statement:

"Currently, the Kentucky Department of Insurance is analyzing the various benefit options in order to make an informed recommendation that balances cost and benefits in the best interest of Kentuckians. The Commonwealth will recommend its choice of Essential Health Benefits to the Secretary of the HHS prior to September 30, 2012."

Kentuckians wishing to weigh in on what those benefits should be can send an email to DOI.RateReview@ky.gov.

All the more reason for dismantling this whole system of government control of health care. If you want to do that, click here.

Boston Globe piles on Papa John's, makes stuff up

The hits keep coming against Papa John's Pizza founder John Schnatter for answering a question recently about the impact of ObamaCare on his corporation's stock price.

What the pizza mogul's attackers fail to realize is the largest negative impact will not be felt by Papa John's International Inc., but by thousands of small business owner franchisees, their employees and the people who won't be able to work for them because of the law's disincentives for hiring or keeping employees.

The Louisville Courier Journal editorial page today thinks it's all a big joke over twenty cents:

"In our book, that's a bargain if it means thousands of Papa John's employees in all 50 states are going to get health coverage and we're not going to have to foot the bill when hardworking but uninsured pizza chefs get ill and end up in the hospital.
Imagine that. Health care for thousands of workers and all you have to do is look for two dimes under your car seat. That's change we can believe in!"

This is a blatant misrepresentation of the impact of ObamaCare on Americans and our health care system. ObamaCare doesn't fix the problem of uncompensated care and it won't provide coverage for a lot of Papa John's employees.

The Boston Globe, though, takes the silliness to an even higher level:

The guessing here is it won't be that tough for Papa John's to survive the 11- to 14-cent-per-pizza increase. Its biggest competitors, like Domino's, will also have to contend with potential health care increases.
Schnatter's concern is that the corner pizza shop will be exempted because it has fewer than 50 employees.

What the Globe ignores is that franchisees and employees will bear the brunt of ObamaCare. And many of those small businesses have fewer than 50 employees, qualifying them for the dubious  "exemption." On top of that, writers at the Globe should have to divulge their source for the assertion about Schnatter and the "corner pizza shop." It's not something he has said or written. In fact, it appears they got that one from a liberal blog.

Papa John states obvious, liberals pounce

Left-wing pundits and activists are having a field day attacking Louisville's Papa John's Pizza founder John Schnatter for saying ObamaCare will increase business costs.

It's still the Democratic Party line, but no one really believes ObamaCare will reduce healthcare costs anymore. The people trying to shout Schnatter down or threatening to boycott his pizza are setting themselves up for another Chick-fil-A debacle.

Government growing its own power to counteract the negative effects of decades of too much government involvement in healthcare makes no sense. Nearly everyone gets that now. The rest will figure it out the hard way when ObamaCare takes full effect in 2014.

We may need pizza for lunch at the Kentucky State Capitol on August 21 for the rally with Sen. Rand Paul and Sen. Mitch McConnell.

Will Obama disrupt Kentucky tea party event?

Obama supporters are planning a "counter-protest" against an August 21 tea party rally against ObamaCare featuring both of Kentucky's U.S. Senators.

A Facebook event page labeled "Counter-Protest against Tea Party, Rand Paul, Mitch McConnell, Money in Politics, etc." shows invitations have been sent out to more than 700 people. Congressional candidate Bill Adkins, a rabid Obama supporter, is listed as a possible attendee. The event page lists the same date, time and location as the authorized tea party event.

The "counter-protest" page links to a liberal blog post encouraging Obama supporters to show up and disrupt the event and, of course, mentions defecation, a favorite of Occupy Wall Street types.

Frankfort can't justify doing this to us

If you grew up with siblings, you probably know the injustice of parental punishment doled out unevenly. Big brothers took the heat while little brothers got off easy for similar crimes at my house.

But we are adults now. And besides, government is not your daddy. That's why Kentucky's Constitution forbids arbitrary enforcement of laws. We try to require officials to be evenhanded to protect everyone equally.

That's why the Commonwealth's reign of terror against Christians in health sharing organizations is so despicable. Kentucky's Department of Insurance has attacked Christian Care Medi-Share in court for ten years as an illegal insurance company. Under Kentucky law, Samaritan Ministries and Christian HealthCare Ministries are just as guilty but have avoided any of the same punishment. This uneven enforcement hurts not only the companies and their members with all the uncertainty, but also potential members who will be looking for alternatives to government-controlled health insurance increasingly in the months and years ahead.

In May, the Department's spokesperson told me they had been watching Samaritan and Christian HealthCare for years. In June, the Department initiated a formal investigation into their activities. Given that a determination of their legality can be made by viewing their web sites for a few minutes and that they have supposedly been under the watchful eye of state regulators for years, two months is way more than enough time to act. That's particularly true if consumers are at risk, right? I mean, isn't that why regulators have jobs?

Kentucky insurance regulation is a joke. It's not a funny one and, in fact, represents an unconstitutional abuse of power as well as a waste of scarce resources. We are going to prove it and, in doing so, pave the way to requiring state government to better justify its actions or to stop them.

US Military war gaming battle versus Tea Party

Just as hundreds of Kentucky Tea Party supporters plan a pilgrimage to Frankfort for an anti-ObamaCare rally in two weeks, officials at the US Army Training and Doctrine Command are war gaming an attack on tea partiers on American soil.

I'm not kidding.

Dr. Kevin Benson, a retired Army Colonel and currently at the University of Foreign Military and Cultural Studies at Fort Leavenworth wrote a paper describing how a hypothetical 2016 military attack on insurgent tea partiers in South Carolina might play out.

 "While mainstream politicians and citizens react with alarm, the “tea party” insurrectionists in South Carolina enjoy a groundswell of support from other tea party groups, militias, racist organizations such as the Ku Klux Klan, anti-immigrant associations such as the Minutemen, and other right-wing groups."
"The pace of the operation needs to be deliberate and controlled.  Combat units will conduct overt Show of Force operations to remind the insurrectionists they are now facing professional military forces, with all the training and equipment that implies.  Army and Marine units will remove road blocks and check points both overtly and covertly with minimum essential force to ratchet up pressure continually on insurrectionist leadership." ... "Federal forces continue to tighten the noose as troops seize and secure power and water stations, radio and TV stations, and hospitals."

It goes without saying that tea party events have always been peaceful, professional and exceedingly polite. Since Dr. Benson's fantasy has come to light, the media has avoided discussing it like the plague. Please encourage your elected officials and local media to address the issue of military threats against peaceful American citizens. This kind of official intimidation has no place in a free society. 

Health reform for the rest of us

These are the people protecting us?

On Wednesday, after researching a complaint against Christian Care Ministries Medi-Share program for three weeks, the Kentucky Department of Insurance determined that it has been fighting Medi-Share in court for ten years.

I'm not kidding.

In a letter dated August 1, 2012 the Consumer Protection Division of the Department of Insurance stated it was closing a consumer-initiated investigation into Medi-Share's insurance activities filed July 10. The Department justified its decision by invoking 806 KAR 02-050 sec. 2, which states the Department "no authority to usurp or infringe upon the jurisdiction, prerogative, or authority of the various courts of competent jurisdiction."

That's interesting, though, because the courts, the bureaucrats and the politicians in Frankfort have been usurping and infringing upon the rights of Kentuckians to protect themselves against health care costs for years and it is about to get worse.

Getting the state of Kentucky to back off from their overbearing restrictions on our health care decisions can't wait for sleepy government officials playing pass the buck with our lives. ObamaCare takes full effect in 515 days.

Health freedom gets a day in court

The Kentucky Department of Insurance and Franklin Circuit Court this afternoon have broken their silence on a case that can usher in unprecedented health freedom for citizens of the Commonwealth. After quietly neglecting citizens in the state's bizarre battle against Christian health sharing organizations with no action since July 2011, DOI officials and Judge Thomas Wingate have announced a public hearing on the state's decade-long lawsuit against Christians seeking an exemption from ObamaCare.

Please make plans to attend the hearing in Frankfort on August 30 at 1:30 pm in the Franklin Circuit Court, 669 Chamberlain Avenue, Frankfort. The case number is 02-CI-837.

We are looking for a ruling against Christian Medi-Share to help mobilize support for changing Kentucky law to allow religious health sharing groups to operate without fear of prosecution in the state. Either way the fight will go on, though, as education about this case continues. Most of the people being hurt by this don't yet realize it. 

Consumers don't have a lobbyist in this fight or an attorney in this case, though our standing in it is clear. The only thing holding Kentuckians back from taking full advantage of this exemption from ObamaCare is bad Kentucky law that must be changed.

Please support this effort to force Frankfort to get out from between Kentuckians and our natural right to health freedom. Click here and donate what you can.

Kentucky's Catch-22

Joseph Heller's Catch-22 satirically attacks arbitrary abuse of government power.

From Wikipedia:

"Other forms of Catch-22 are invoked throughout the novel to justify various bureaucratic actions. At one point, victims of harassment by military police quote the MPs' explanation of one of Catch-22's provisions: "Catch-22 states that agents enforcing Catch-22 need not prove that Catch-22 actually contains whatever provision the accused violator is accused of violating." Another character explains: "Catch-22 says they have a right to do anything we can't stop them from doing.""


Kentucky utilizes Catch-22 reasoning in its continued assault on citizens attempting to escape ObamaCare. State law effectively forbids religious health sharing, an alternative to health insurance whose practitioners are actually exempt from mandates in the "Affordable Care Act."


Under Kentucky law this practice is not only illegal, it is a felony punishable by large fines and up to five years in prison. So if you are a Kentuckian who understands ObamaCare is an unworkable mess and want out, your state government could legally throw you in jail for trying. Franklin Circuit Judge Thomas Wingate, the state's Department of Insurance and the legislature have stopped even trying to clarify this situation, but all those people have one thing in common: they are state employees not subject to prosecution for seeking a health insurance alternative while regular citizens face ObamaCare taxes,  fees and mandates on one side and the potential for imprisonment on the other.


It's about time to storm the gates. Here's one idea. And another.

Wagging the Senator

Nothing seems to stir up political observers like a conversation about the Tea Party and the August 21 event in Frankfort featuring Rand Paul and Mitch McConnell promises to keep them going for a while.

The burning questions about the movement, as always, run anywhere from the causes of the death of the Tea Party to speculation about how it came to rule the world. That both of these questions are pondered just as seriously at the same time and so endlessly is a great feature of the movement. The first step of any campaign is to define your opponent and our opponents can't really get off that block.

Tea Party opinions of Senator McConnell tend to run from ambivalence to far worse. The fact that he will appear with Senator Paul at a Tea Party event creates a must-see-tv element of intrigue Hollywood couldn't dream up. Watching people try to interpret every aspect of this pairing will be half the fun.

But make no mistake, what they each say about the policy and politics of ObamaCare will be tremendously important. You won't want to miss it.

And while you wait, consider that only the Tea Party would even try to pull this off. Think about that for a while.

Eat more capitalism

I'm not big on fast food, but joining friends at Chick-fil-A tomorrow to make a statement seems like the right thing to do. Also, catching them in an advocating kind of mood provides a good chance to warn them about possibly being charged as felons, jailed and fined for following a pro-Christian right buried deep in the language of ObamaCare.

The federal healthcare law carves out a money-saving (and possibly life-saving) exemption to its mandates for members of religious health sharing ministries, but under Kentucky law such membership is a felony. As ObamaCare's 2014 implementation draws closer, a lot more Kentuckians will be looking for a way out. Encouraging state lawmakers to expand the Religious Publications Exemption by striking KRS 304.1-120(7)(d)(e)(f) eliminates the worst of this threat.

It's a guilt-free, low sodium solution to a problem we don't need to have. Please spread the word right away. And if you like getting heads up like this on issues no one else reports on, please consider contributing to the effort by clicking here and making your most generous contribution. No amount is too small, and anything you can do is greatly appreciated.

Medi-Share debacle endangering Christians

A three-ring circus in Frankfort is no laughing matter for hundreds of Kentucky Christians who could face felony insurance fraud charges for belonging to Christian Care Medi-Share's health sharing program, a viable alternative to mandated health insurance under ObamaCare but a decade-long target of state insurance regulators.

Kentucky's Insurance Code, KRS 304, defines insurance to include activities of not only health sharing groups like Medi-Share, but also their members.

In a March 1, 2011 permanent injunction ruling, a Franklin Circuit Judge prohibited Medi-Share and its members from operating their health sharing program in the Commonwealth, specifically mentioning KRS 304.11-030(2), which prohibits the health sharing activities of both the company Medi-Share and its members.

KRS 304.47-020(2)(b) provides for punishment of imprisonment between one and five years and fines of tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Judge Thomas Wingate says he can't rule on a year-old contempt of court motion against Medi-Share and it's members until the state's Department of Insurance and Medi-Share agree on a hearing date. Despite either weeks or months of negotiating on a date, none has been scheduled as of Monday afternoon. While the judge, the state and Medi-Share play hot potato, innocent Kentuckians are put at risk. There is a simple fix for this, though it would surely be more satisfying at this point to run the whole bunch of them out of the state and force them to talk their way back in.

Is Kentucky moving toward marijuana?

The Democratic sponsor of a Kentucky state Senate bill to make Kentucky a medical marijuana state has a Republican opponent who also supports legalization of medical marijuana.

Sen. Perry Clark made headlines earlier this month when he admitted to recent marijuana use, a very poorly kept secret in Frankfort. His Republican opponent, Louisville businessman Chris Thieneman, condemns Sen. Clark for smoking on the job but said he supports changing state law to allow Kentuckians who gain relief from physical problems by smoking marijuana to do so.

A year ago, nervous state politicians called industrial hemp, a natural product with multiple uses and no hallucinogenic effects, a gateway drug to harder substance abuse until Agriculture Commissioner James Comer, a Republican, won election statewide on a platform including advocacy for industrial hemp cultivation.

It will be interesting to see how quickly other politicians' views toward medical marijuana evolve now that Thieneman has stepped up on this issue. President Barack Obama admitted smoking marijuana on many occasions and campaigned on leaving medical marijuana users alone. In office, he has instead aggressively prosecuted medical marijuana use, to the consternation of former supporters.

In October, the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington D.C. will hear oral arguments in a case against the Department of Drug Enforcement's efforts against marijuana use.

Catholics expand fight for health freedom

The Commonwealth of Kentucky's passive-aggressive war against (mostly Protestant) Christians is about to spread to Catholics.

Solidarity HealthShare, a new health-sharing organization, will help Catholics avoid ObamaCare health insurance mandates.

The Catholic Church has been outspoken in its opposition to government mandates for insurance coverage of abortion and this effort is clearly motivated by that. As more people of faith see the wisdom in fighting back against federal or state regulation of health insurance, we grow closer to gaining true health freedom for everyone.

With Catholics on board, health freedom gains a powerful new ally.

Tea Party storms Frankfort over ObamaCare

The Louisville Tea Party is sponsoring an anti-ObamaCare rally at the Kentucky State Capitol in Frankfort on Tuesday, August 21 at 11:30 am. Featured speakers include U.S. Senators Rand Paul and Mitch McConnell.

Winning the battle for health freedom has to be the top tea party issue until candidates in any party are terrified to run on any platform that does not include health freedom as one of its key planks.

Kentucky's War on Christian Health going national

Kaiser Health News generates lots of talking points for politicians seeking control of your health care. Minutes ago, KSN distributed this:

"Christian health sharing ministries are largely unregulated, except by themselves. This means members cannot go to an insurance commissioner with a complaint, rates aren't reviewed by an independent regulator, and there is no way to ensure they are following anti-discrimination laws."

Just as some states are fighting back against ObamaCare from the right, others are pulling it faster to the left. One of their approaches is to effectively shut down Christian health sharing ministries' exemption in the federal law and Kentucky is way ahead of the curve on this.

It's simple: we fight back or we lose. I will be speaking in Louisville tonight about how we can fight back to win our health freedom in Kentucky. Join us at 6pm ET at Ernesto's, 10105 Dixie Highway if you can.

If you would like to help get the message out, please consider donating whatever you can here. Thanks for all you do.

An ObamaCare amendment we all need

The more you know about Christian health sharing, the more you agree it offers a better deal for consumers than government-regulated health insurance. It doesn't take a very detailed analysis.

Kentucky is gaining increased national attention for its long-standing hostility toward Christian health sharers. While we pursue a legislative correction to that misguided animosity, federal representatives should also implement a small change to the ObamaCare law to improve the efficiency of health coverage alternatives not regulated by public employee bureaucrats.

ObamaCare bill H.R. 3590 exempts health sharing from federal mandates but also limits the market to religious organizations in operation since 1999. Simply eliminating this arbitrary limitation allows for new competitors in the market just as the rest of the federal law reduces choices in the government-controlled market.

The change involves striking out this part of the law:

While the benefits of a more competitive free market in health care coverage are obvious for Christians, less obvious is the opportunity for others who may, for political reasons, want to support the idea of ObamaCare but don't want to be stuck holding the bag when the government sector of the health market blows up.

I'm thinking a health care sharing ministry for the Church of the Left-Handed Bicycle Riders might come in handy at some point.

Kentucky tying up Christians for sharing, promising

Two national news articles in the last three days about Christian health sharing have mentioned Kentucky's battle against Christian Care Medi-Share. In one, Medi-Share CEO Tony Meggs suggests his company's legal problems will be wiped away when Judge Thomas Wingate sees Medi-Share has changed the way it handles it's members money.

That's not likely.

Medi-Share was found to be an unregistered health insurance company in 2010 by the Kentucky Supreme Court. The Court ruled the company failed to meet all requirements of the Religious Publications Exemption in KRS 304.1-120 (7), specifically the one requiring health sharing members to pay each other's medical bills "directly from one (1) subscriber to another."

Whether that requirement is met under current operations is somewhat open to interpretation. Medi-Share members now send monthly funds to a credit union account the member and Medi-Share control jointly. The Kentucky Department of Insurance and the Supreme Court claim such an arrangement does not constitute direct subscriber-to-subscriber payment.

But even if the Department and the Court change their minds and decide that this method is direct enough, there is at least one more problem for Medi-Share. Gaining the exemption also requires that there can be "no assumption of risk or promise to pay either among the subscribers or between the subscribers and (Medi-Share)."

Medi-Share's many advertisements (like the one above) are full of eye-popping numbers like an average family month commitment of $282 and a claim of $625 million in savings. Also, anyone who has had to call around to find an agreeable doctor has to be impressed by the idea of having the freedom to "use any provider."

All this is suggestive of a "promise to pay," but the fact that is going to get them is that members who don't pay their monthly fees for two months will be dropped from the program and will not have outstanding medical needs presented for payment. That sounds obvious, but the fact of a requirement to pay in order to benefit is the legal definition of a "promise," which is prohibited under the law.

The ridiculous hoops we require these people to jump through to enjoy some measure of health freedom need to be eliminated. But they can't be wished away or shouted away. We need to change the law.

Kentucky dawdling wastes health money

Two months after promising to investigate their own arbitrary prosecution of Christian health sharing organizations, Kentucky's Department of Insurance has still failed to clear up confusion for citizens seeking to escape ObamaCare mandates.

Religious health sharing organizations in continuous operation since 1999 and their members are exempt from dictates of the Affordable Care Act. Kentucky's hostility toward this simple alternative to health insurance, however, predates federal health insurance reform.

The state's 2002 lawsuit against Christian Care Medi-Share is still not resolved, mainly due to Department of Insurance inaction. Failure to even begin addressing legal issues facing members and prospective members of the only two other federally exempt organizations -- Samaritan Ministries and Christian HealthCare Ministries -- until forced to do so six weeks ago, very poorly serves Kentucky's insurance consumers.

Hundreds of thousands of Kentucky Christians are overpaying for health coverage because of this legal mess, which could be cleared up easily.

Kentucky waffles again on Christian health

After repeatedly refusing to meet with Christian Care Medi-Share to discuss their legal status, the Kentucky Department of Insurance now seems to be coming around.

A Department spokesperson said a meeting may take place in August.

The state's newly found interest in openness on the issue of religious health sharing organizations and their superiority to government-regulated health insurance doesn't immediately address the organizations' real legal problems, but the response to tea party pressure is a welcome one.

Health freedom can be won in Kentucky and then spread to the other states. Stay tuned for updates.

Frankfort should defund ObamaCare ads

Frankfort Republicans made a little noise this past week with an attempt to deny office space funding for Gov. Beshear's ObamaCare health insurance exchange bureaucracy. Beshear had no trouble going around them, but another opportunity has just presented itself.

Kentucky's Cabinet for Health and Family Services Secretary Audrey Haynes just appeared this morning on Bill Bryant's WKYT Newmakers program in Lexington touting the coming bureaucracy.

She also stated the 2014 roll out of the expensive program will be "heavily advertised."

Wasting money on advertising to promote this waste of money should be against the law, right? Looking for a way to do that in the 2013 General Assembly could be both fun and productive for the cause of Liberty.

The first place in statute that comes to mind as a vehicle for prohibiting government from spending our money to advertise the expansion of itself is KRS 121, campaign finance law.

I'm a little nervous about opening up campaign finance with the current legislature given than Senate Republicans have been at least as bad as House Democrats on the issue. Proposed legislation to prohibit the state from using any state resources to promote any element of the Affordable Care Act, though,  could be worth the risk. A pre-filed bill with this objective this summer could be used as a campaign tool against House Democrats stuck between their party's damaging policies and their desire to win re-election in November.

Kentucky still abusing health consumers

Kentucky's quiet war on Christians has taken another odd twist.

Official Kentucky inaction on a consumer protection specifically guaranteed in the ObamaCare Affordable Care Act unconstitutionally harms citizens by limiting consumer healthcare choices. Repeated delays in a Department of Insurance investigation leaves unclear the legal status of religious based health sharing organizations and their members, who were granted an exemption from the ObamaCare insurance coverage mandates.

A Consumer Protection Division official in the Department of Insurance confirmed today that no determination has been reached on the legality of Christian health sharing organizations Samaritan Ministries and Christian HealthCare Ministries. A Department of Insurance spokesperson has claimed repeatedly the organizations have been examined thoroughly for several years, so the latest delay in the current six week investigation is perplexing.

Given that another Christian health sharing organization, Christian Care Medi-Share, has been attacked by state insurance officials repeatedly throughout a lawsuit initiated in 2002, consumer confusion caused by arbitrary application of the state's Insurance Code leaves consumers at great risk.

Because of the structure of health sharing organizations, Kentucky law could cause members -- customers -- of the organizations to be defined as insurers and prosecuted as felons.

Kentucky officials should act immediately to clear up this confusion as citizens scramble to find viable healthcare solutions before ObamaCare hits them in 2014.

This can't be good

Someone in Obama's office is reading Kentucky Progress right now:

I'm not going to go Alex Jones on you, but seeing this did kind of give me the willies.

Steve Beshear will be surprised in 2015

Governor Steve Beshear went on the Jack Pattie radio show on WVLK 590 in Lexington this morning to make his case for signing Kentucky up for ObamaCare yesterday. He either doesn't understand what he has just done or really hopes no one is paying attention.

Beshear flatly stated the ObamaCare health insurance exchange won't cost the state anything, that the exchange will pay for itself. This is absolutely false. Increased fees or taxes will be necessary to fund the new bureaucracy after federal funds run out at the end of 2014.

Beshear takes the bait on ObamaCare

Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear couldn't get through the first sentence of today's big press release without telling a lie.

From the release: "Governor Steve Beshear today issued an executive order establishing the Kentucky Health Benefit Exchange, a requirement of the federal Affordable Care Act (ACA)."


The ObamaCare exchanges are optional. Further, refusing to play along is the only way Kentucky could hope to survive the rapid tax, penalty and fee increases for Kentuckians in the federal law.


Federal funding for the Kentucky exchange will dry up at the end of 2014. At that point, Beshear claims the "Exchange will be wholly funded with revenues it generates."


That means either a new tax or some kind of fee increase on health insurance will be necessary. Governor Beshear should be made to explain exactly how much he anticipates the state will spend on the exchange annually and where precisely that money will come from. 

Family Foundation of KY still wrong on health law

The Family Foundation of Kentucky is a leading protector of Christian values in Frankfort. I appreciate much of their work, but they are missing in action on health freedom.

At issue is an apparent unwillingness to accept reality of Kentucky's arbitrarily applied prohibition of an otherwise very viable Christian health insurance alternative called health sharing. This failure is preventing them from doing much good on a key front in the fight against ObamaCare.

The reality is that health sharing is against Kentucky law and it is no matter how much anyone repeats that it is not.

In 2007, the Family Foundation touted a court ruling they thought might put to rest the controversy over health sharing in Kentucky. It did not.

The problems health sharing organizations face in Kentucky will persist at least until the Religious Publications Exemption in the state's Insurance Code is greatly expanded.

The legislative fix is easy. We need to amend KRS 304.1-120(7) like this:

This change would allow all the Christian health sharing organizations currently exempt from ObamaCare to function in Kentucky without fear for themselves or their members of being shut down and possibly charged as unauthorized insurers and jailed as felons.

This should be a simple discussion and not an embarrassing mess full of personal attacks and missing the point. Failure to resolve this quickly and amicably only benefits those who want the government to control all of our health care.

Odd bedfellows can win health freedom fight

Kentucky can absolutely lead the way to health freedom in America, but first we have to break off the lock those who profit most from the status quo have on the debate.

And that means clarifying the value of a free economy for the Christian Right and Left to bring their powerful voices into the fight.

Lots of work to do, but if you look carefully for subtle progress here and here, you just might see where I'm going with this.

Black market Christian health company puts Kentuckians at risk; illegal under federal law

Texas-based Christian health sharing organization Altrua is operating in Kentucky as an illegal insurance company. Its members are also not eligible for the mandate exemption under the Health Care Sharing Ministry section of ObamaCare.

According to the company, Altrua was formed in 2000, which means it can't help you under federal law. The Affordable Care Act doesn't specify penalties for operating as an illegal insurer under that statute, but under Kentucky law, the company and even its members could be charged as felons.

Health reform for Rand Paul and John Yarmuth

U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa inserted a religious-based health sharing exemption into ObamaCare before he voted against the entire bill. If we can't kill the whole bill, the current Congress should expand the exemption.

From the Affordable Care Act on page 128, we find the following passage:

What we need more than anything is more alternative forms of protection for Americans, rather than fewer or a fixed number. President Obama and congressional Democrats had to like this passage or they wouldn't have it in their bill, right? Surely they wouldn't mind making it better.

Limiting the exclusion to religious organization who started their health sharing activities on or before December 31, 1999 is discriminatory and arbitrary. If a group of gay left-handed communists want to set up a church and start their own health sharing organization, they should be allowed to under federal law. It is only fair.

Please encourage your member of Congress to amend the Affordable Care Act to strike both references to December 31, 1999 in the Health Care Sharing Ministry section of the bill so that they may do so.

Might Medicaid migration hurt Kentucky?

If Republican governors in Indiana, Ohio, Tennessee and Virginia reject ObamaCare's Medicaid expansion and they are joined by a hesitant Democrat in Missouri, then Kentucky's Steve Beshear could face significant in-migration of low income people seeking government health benefits they can't get in their home states.

Of the seven states surrounding Kentucky, only Illinois and West Virginia seem likely to go for the budget-busting entitlement expansion mandated by ObamaCare but made optional by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Beshear's delay on Medicaid expansion is odd for someone who has supposedly been "studying" these issues for a long time.

Contempt for consumers in Frankfort

A decade-long legal battle between the Kentucky Department of Insurance and Christian Care Medi-Share took another weird turn today when a judge announced he would ignore a year-old contempt of court petition and expects the state to file another one.

Franklin Circuit Court Judge Thomas Wingate said through a spokesperson he now expects the state to re-file against Christian Care Medi-Share soon, after saying last week he was waiting for a meeting between the two parties.

The original contempt of court filing by the state was dated July 27,  2011 after Christian Care Medi-Share, a health sharing organization, was found to be continuing operations in the state despite a 2010 Kentucky Supreme Court ruling ordering them to stop.

Under ObamaCare, members of religious-based health sharing organizations are exempt from the federal insurance mandate. Kentucky’s official hostility to this free market activity has received very little media attention, but the uncertainty caused by this case keeps consumers locked into a health care financing system increasingly overrun by arbitrary and autocratic bureaucracy.

Fear the government

On Friday July 6, a federal jury in Covington convicted a local lawyer on three counts of filing false tax returns.  The charge was that he had under-reporting his income.

The convictions came after four years of prosecution following an armed raid on the lawyer’s offices in April 2008.  At that time agents of the IRS, FBI and DEA along with other law enforcement officials, armed with machine guns, burst into the attorney’s offices and while holding his staff at gunpoint seized his records and computers.

At the same time other groups of armed government agents raided his home and went to his bank seizing records and several hundred thousand dollars in cash.

In the last four years, the government returned all of the cash to the lawyer. Why?  Well, for starters it is no more illegal to hold hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash than it is to hold one hundred dollars in cash.

You might ask, “why would the attorney have so much cash on hand”?  His explanation at trial was that his grandfather had lost everything he had during the depression when his bank failed and he couldn’t withdraw his life savings in time.  The lawyer admitted that he kept some of his money in bank accounts but that he had been slowly putting away his savings in cash for nearly 30 years as his “nest egg”.  He explained that while others had put their money in retirement accounts only to see those accounts lose half their value in recent years, this was his retirement.  He was preparing for an uncertain future.

There being nothing illegal about his cash holdings, the IRS returned all of the cash they seized cash to him.

But for four year they kept up the prosecution which reportedly cost the government perhaps as much as $2 million in taxpayer money. And what was the result?

The result is that the lawyer will likely be sentenced to serve time in a federal prison, which you might note will also be at taxpayer expense. 

In addition he will likely lose his license to practice law which means that he will no longer be the high wage earner he has been for thirty plus years which will cost the government even more money in lost revenue on his earnings.

According to various reports the lawyer asked the government how much they claim he owed them and yet they never supplied him with a figure. 

The government could have charged the lawyer for back taxes, levied a substantial penalty and of course since they already had their hands on more than enough cash to obtained payment, could have settled the matter pretty much on their own terms.  But they did none of these things. Why?

What could possibly have been the purpose of this four year prosecution which was obviously very expensive in more ways than one?

For the answer to this question, go back to where I asked you to stop a minute and assess your reaction to this case and how it made you feel.  Over powering prosecutions like these serve only one purpose, to make an example out of people for the rest of us to see.  In other words, cases like this make us fear our government.

Of course the lawyer denied that he had failed to report any of his income.  In addition to his law practice he ran several businesses and his books were handled by a book keeper, his tax returns prepared by a CPA and he testified that he trusted these professionals to do things right.   But of course the government stood firmly on the law that says no matter who prepares your taxes, your signature means that you have affirmed the accuracy of everything reported on those returns and if any of it is wrong you have committed perjury. 

It is hard to tell how much money this lawyer spent defending himself, but one thing is clear; we have all now been taught to shudder at the thought of the government coming after any of us.

What is the solution?  A lot of politicians these days like to say they favor a “fairer/flatter tax”.  But things don’t seem to be getting any better.

In fact things have just gotten a whole lot worse. The Supreme Court has declared that the penalties under ObamaCare are really a tax which of course will be enforced by the IRS.  The IRS has just added thousands of new agents.  We hear annual reports how the IRS is ramping up its enforcement efforts and with thousands of new agents and a whole new set of laws to enforce things just got a whole lot scarier. 

Is there a plan is to make American citizens fear the government more and more each day?  It should be the other way around.  As Thomas Jefferson said "When governments fear the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny."

The time has come to eliminate the IRS, to pass “The Fair Tax” thus removing the need for citizens to file burdensome tax returns under penalty of perjury.  The “Fair Tax” would streamline collection, eliminate loopholes, spread the tax burden equally over the entire population and result in a steady stream of revenue to the government throughout the year.

And the fair tax would eliminate the fear of government agents bursting into your private property wearing bullet proof vests, carrying machine guns aimed at your head and shouting orders at you.  That’s how this case of lawyer, Larry Lawrence started and it will end with him going to prison.

And after considering that he is headed to prison, isn’t it fair to ask “for what”?  Was all of this really worth a few dollars in unpaid taxes?  No matter how much he owed it had to be a drop in the bucket compared to the federal budget. 

Taxes are the tools of tyranny and it should be painfully obvious that this latest criminal case wasn’t about money, it was, as Jefferson warned, all about making citizens fear the government.

Kentucky's bogus Medicaid talking point

Just as Kentucky House Minority Leader Jeff Hoover started pushing last week for Gov. Steve Beshear to avoid the massive unfunded Medicaid expansion option under ObamaCare, media reports of a study showing the state stood to benefit more than any other suddenly appeared.

The report, issued by Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, saw immediate statewide distribution primarily through public news sites (here and here) and business publications (here and here) and at least one newspaper (here).

Only one tiny problem with that: the report was dated May 2010. These numbers are ridiculously outdated and and the ranking is meaningless, released now as a clumsy attempt to score political points. The fact Kentucky media outlets seem to have swallowed this whole should be incredibly embarrassing for them.

The truth is the massive Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act would very likely result in significant numbers of privately insured low-income people dropping coverage and signing up for Medicaid, according to another old report.

Hope this changes the conversation in Frankfort this week as Beshear weighs whether or not to drive the state to insolvency faster with this easily avoidable government expansion.

Frankfort GOP coming around on ObamaCare

A video released by Kentucky House Republican Leader Jeff Hoover shows the first real sign of life from Frankfort's GOP leadership in support of health freedom in the Commonwealth.

The striking lack of any mention of health insurance exchanges in the video was cured by House Republican Director of Communications Michael Goins, who pointed to a press release mentioning the need to opt out of the exchange at the end of its last sentence.

The effort fits in the "better late than never" category, but not by much. Most Republican legislators voted to give Beshear $50 million to expand Medicaid under ObamaCare. Forcing Beshear and the Democrats to fight on the record for ObamaCare during budget negotiations would have been campaign gold this fall, at the very least.

We need to hear more from Rep. Hoover and other GOP legislators about specific steps to get out from under ObamaCare. A very easy move with a big payoff for consumers would be to expand the Religious Publications Exemption in the Kentucky Insurance Code so Kentuckians could be more confident in the option provided by religious-based health sharing organizations, which are exempted from federal mandates under ObamaCare.

Is Beshear reconsidering ObamaCare?

Within moments of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling upholding ObamaCare, Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear announced he would issue an executive order creating a health insurance exchange under the law. Further, he said he was considering whether to accept the law's attempt to expand Medicaid.

That was a week ago. What's the hold up?

Kentucky can't afford Medicaid now. Indeed, we need fewer people on Medicaid rather than signing up more. Even Beshear, who campaigned on expanding dependency on Medicaid in 2007 and has actively fulfilled that promise since, has to understand this fact.

Frankfort Republicans already gave Beshear $50 million on paper in the 2012 budget bill to expand Medicaid. They did nothing to stop him from setting up the bureaucracy to support an exchange. All he has to do is sign a paper and it is all over. So what is he waiting for?

Could the November elections for nervous House Democrats have something to do with it?

I sure hope so. It would be great to see Greg Stumbo lose his position as House Speaker because Beshear/Obama overreach on health insurance. But it would be better for the state if Beshear admitted that we can't afford it and removed this one piece of uncertainty from the dark clouds blocking Kentuckians' ability to see brighter days ahead.

Judge Wingate flip-flops on health freedom

Less than two weeks ago, Franklin Circuit Judge Thomas Wingate said he would rule soon on the Kentucky health freedom case. Now he says he is waiting for the state and health sharing group Christian Care Medi-Share to meet first.

They aren't likely to meet soon.

The Beshear administration has the people of Kentucky in an ObamaCare headlock and intends to keep us there. Governor Beshear and his minions in the legislature don't want a public discussion about this, so they are pulling all the strings to keep it quiet.

Will we let them succeed?

Kentucky most important health reform state

The health freedom effort in Kentucky got a boost last week with coverage in BusinessWeek and the Christian Broadcasting Network (click the links to read), but all everyone wants to talk about is the U.S. Supreme Court ruling. Go figure.

All kidding aside, it will take a huge effort to rein in the Kentucky Department of Insurance and help create an environment for free market health care in Kentucky. And the federal effort for real reform won't mean anything if we don't get it right in Frankfort.


But if we can make headway in Kentucky, we can help the rest of the nation get out from under government control of healthcare. Kentucky is unique in its constitutional protection of citizens from absolute and arbitrary government. (See Section 2 of the Kentucky Bill of Rights.)


Insurance regulation in the states is almost universally arbitrary in that the laws are too broad and then are applied haphazardly. This chaotic regime is much like having a crazy despot who lets his friends get away with murder but attacks his enemies on a whim. That's no way to regulate anything, much less an industry which such an important impact on the lives of all citizens.


If we can overturn insurance regulation in Kentucky, we can show what a waste of resources government regulation of insurance is. That's because prices will do down and quality of service will go up. When Kentucky does this, people in other states will want to follow suit.


This effort can snowball quickly, but it will take a lot of people spreading the word. Will you help?

If John Yarmuth is only source, you're biased

A pretty important ObamaCare story over the weekend in the Louisville Courier Journal failed the smell test.

The article described a program through which the federal government provided $58 million to fund a scheme created by the "Affordable Care Act" to create a new health insurance co-op in Kentucky.

With supposedly independent programs like this, who needs government run insurance or the so-called public option?

But when the Courier Journal had time last week to talk to anyone with a point of view on this very controversial approach, it seems they could only manage to reach ObamaCare cheerleader John Yarmuth.

Needless to say, he is in favor of it.

In other news, certainly unrelated to bad, unbalanced journalism, the Courier Journal on Sunday pulled down their pay wall that had been telling readers to subscribe or face being shut off from their quality news source.