FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — People taking part in a Christians-only health care plan would have to sign a notice acknowledging they’re aware they may not have their claims paid, under a legislative amendment proposed by House Speaker Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg, Ky.
Kentucky Senate Bill 3, a bill that is hanging on in the final days of a legislative session, would exempt the Medi-Share ministry from state insurance regulations, allowing it to once again operate in Kentucky.
Stumbo said Tuesday he isn’t sure the measure will get a vote on the House floor even with his proposed amendment.
“I personally don’t have any trouble with it if it moves forward,” Stumbo told reporters. “But these people need to understand that it is not an insurance company. There are no guarantees. And, therefore, they affectively assume the risk. I don’t want them to believe it’s something that it’s not.”
The House Banking and Insurance Committee voted 28-0 last week to pass the measure on behalf of Florida-based Medi-Share, which had been the subject of a decade-long court battle.
Franklin County Circuit Judge Thomas Wingate ordered Medi-Share to stop operating in Kentucky last year at the request of the Kentucky Department of Insurance.
Sen. Tom Buford, the Nicholasville Republican who sponsored the legislation, said it would allow about 800 Kentuckians to rejoin Medi-Share. The plan resembles secular insurance in some ways but only allows participation by people who pledge to live Christian lives with no smoking, drinking, using drugs or engaging in sex outside of marriage.