Tagged: Christian Care MediShare

FRANKFORT — A bill that would allow exemptions for Christian health sharing organizations to operate in Kentucky sailed over it first hurdle in a Senate committee.

Senate Bill 3 is known as the Medishare bill, named for the health sharing organization Christian Care Medishare, which was recently kicked out of Kentucky by the Department of Insurance. Medishare operates by pooling money to help pay for members medical bills.

The bill would allow Medishare to re-start operations in Kentucky by giving it an exemption under current state insurance law.

Kentucky Senate Republicans are rallying around a bill to allow a Christian health-sharing organization to continue operating in Kentucky.

Christian Care Medi-share collects dues from members, then uses those funds to pay other members' health bills. Last year, the Department of Insurance successfully argued in court that  Medi-share should be regulated like other insurance companies.  The decision effectively ended the program in Kentucky.

Kentucky Tea Party activist David Adams has stepped up his battle with the state Department of Insurance by filing a federal civil rights complaint. 

Adams has spent the last three months fighting with the department over the rights of Christian Care Medishare and other Christians-only health sharing organizations, Christian HealthCare and Samaritan Ministries.

A Tea Party activist is hoping to end a decade-long battle between the Kentucky Department of Insurance and a Christian health sharing organization.

Christian Care Medishare pools money from members in various states to pay medical bills for members in need. The group has a religious exemption to certain federal rules governing insurance companies. But the state has not made such concessions.

Now, activist David Adams is teaming up with Republican state Senator Tom Buford to push a bill that would grant Medishare its exemptions.

The dispute between a Christians-only health plan and the Kentucky state government will result in a court hearing later this month.

Medi-Share is a Florida-based ministry. Members can pay into the plan, then withdraw funds to pay medical bills. The state Supreme Court has classified Medi-Share as an insurance company that is not allowed religious exemptions to state law. Recently, the dispute garnered the attention of local tea partiers, who took Medi-Share's side.