Republican override on Kelly’s veto of faith-based bill does not protect Kansans | Opinion

Gov. Laura Kelly was right to veto Kansas legislation to give tax deductions to people participating in health care sharing ministries, which are not ministries, and rife for fraud, because it was bad legislation. That Republican lawmakers overrode her veto was a bad move, and shows they don’t really care about protecting Kansans.

Health care sharing ministries, sometimes called HCSMs, are nonprofit organizations formed by people who share the same faith and religious beliefs. The idea is that members pay monthly into a pool so in theory they can then share in covering the costs of each other’s medical bills.

And, OK, that’s fine for some who want to trust that because someone says they are your kind of good Christian and share your faith, they also will be a good and honest steward of your money and your health. But that does not always happen.

HCSMs market themselves as insurance alternatives, but only if you are a Christian who believes exactly what they believe. They are exclusionary, and that’s not so Christian.

Make no mistake, while HCSMs are often less pricey in a world where health care is outrageously expensive, they are not insurance. They are not regulated and not obligated to payout on claims or cover anywhere near what standard insurers are mandated by federal law to cover, like preexisting conditions. No, That doesn’t make them all bad, or inherently corrupt, but it also doesn’t mean folks who participate in them should be getting any sort of exclusive tax break.

This Kansas legislation — SB 368 — now law, lets those participating in health sharing ministries deduct their membership fees and the money gotten from the pool to pay medical expenses — up to $5,000 per person per year or twice that for a married couple.

An estimated 11,000 Kansans participate in these programs and the new law could cost the state well over a million dollars a year.

On Thursday, Kansas Senate President Ty Masterson, who led the charge to override Kelly’s veto, called the governor’s action ridiculous saying an override would “provide relief to Kansas families dealing with high healthcare costs,.”

Kelly vetoed the legislation because she knows there have been a number of cases across the country, in which these so-called ministries have turned out to be nothing more than fraudulant schemes. “These health care ministries aren’t regulated, which opens the door to all sorts of fraud and abuse,” Kelly said in a news release on Thursday.

She said regulators across the country are taking action against them. Her veto, she said, wasn’t intended to limit anyone’s right to practice faith freely, but rather to protect Kansans and ensure they use health plans that will cover their medical expenses.

Kelly obviously has been paying attention. While some HCSMs, with good-faith management, have worked to provide an honest alternative to high-cost government regulated insurance providers, several HCSMs have faced legal action for fraud, self-enrichment, and leaving members holding the bag on tens of thousands of dollars in unpaid bills.

Thousands of consumer complaints have been filed against these programs, mostly for not paying medical bills. In 2023 federal officials closed down an HCSM operating in Missouri that had collected $7.4 million in membership fees over a nine-year period but only paid $246,000 — or 3.5% of money collected — toward sharing the cost of health care bills. Instead, government officials said, the founders of Medical Cost Sharing put millions into their bank accounts, and denied legitimate medical claims.

As governor it is Kelly’s job to protect her constituency — that’s all Kansans — from harm. Kelly’s veto of this legislation would not have prevented those who wish to join the millions across the country who have risked entrusting their money to HCSM from doing so.

This new law giving a tax deduction to people participating in HCSMs only encourages increased membership for these high risk and exclusionary programs. And it does nothing to protect unsuspecting Kansans looking for an affordable alternative to high-priced health insurance from the programs run by bad actors who take advantage of people in the name of Christianity.

The only way to stop this kind of bad lawmaking is for voters to start electing better leaders who actually do care about Christian constituents and all Kansans.

This story was originally published March 31, 2026 at 11:46 AM.