Ky. rep proposes Christian plan notice rule

Medi-Share contends its participants are fully aware that they’re not buying insurance but are involved in a charitable endeavor to help cover medical bills of fellow Christians and potentially have their own expenses covered should the need arise.

The Rev. David Atkisson, pastor of Grace Church in Elizabethtown, said Stumbo’s amendment is perfectly acceptable.

“I think it clarifies the bill, at least for the legislators,” he said. “But for those of us who have been participants in it, we’ve known this all along. There’s nothing innovative about that, necessarily.”

For the past decade, the Department of Insurance has been in the unenviable position of having to fight against the Christian cost-sharing ministry in a Bible-belt state. The agency took the case to court because of concerns that some Christians might mistakenly believe they’re paying into an insurance plan that guarantees coverage if they’re hospitalized. Medi-Share offers no such guarantee.

Stumbo said the amendment he filed would require participants to sign a bill that makes clear that they are aware that Medi-Share and similar ministries aren’t offering insurance plans.

“I personally don’t see anything wrong with people engaging in that activity so long as they understand that this is not an insurance company,” he said.

The legal battle between Medi-Share and Kentucky had revolved around how tightly the state could regulate the Christian health care ministry that serves nearly 40,000 people in 49 states. Medi-Share President Tony Meggs testified in court last year that the group has helped arrange for Christians across the country to pay some $25 million in medical bills for Kentucky participants over the past 10 years.

Medi-Share participants make average monthly contributions of about $300 a month to their own accounts at American Christian Credit Union. When other Christians need money to pay medical bills, money is transferred directly between member accounts.